Breath Of Fire: War Of The Dragons
by Magus523
Summary: Ages after the Goddess Myria was sealed away, one of the factions of the Dragon Clan seeks to reawaken her. The only thing in their way is one man from the longforgotten Light Dragons... Novelization.
1. Prologue

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Prologue

Ages ago, when the world was young, the many Clans of the world scattered to populate it, and each turned to its own devices and own advancements. As culture and technology advanced, one particular species, that of the Dragon Clan, steadily grew in power, rising above all of the other clans that populated the world at that time. Human and Wing, Forest and Fusion, Maniro and Builder, Mole and more... all the Clans bowed in turn to the might of the Dragons. When the Dragon Clan was at the peak of its power, effectively controlling the world, a new kind of person appeared before them, unlike any seen before... a Goddess.

Her name was Myria, and she could grant wishes to any and all who asked it of her. However, the Dragons grew suspicious of each other. They questioned each others' motives and goals, and with each wish that was granted for one Dragon, the jealousy and hatred of him grew in the hearts of others. In time, the Dragon Clan was divided into two opposing factions, the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons, and they finally declared war upon each other, with the Goddess Myria and all her miraculous power as the prize.

And then was the heart of Myria made glad, for in truth this was the goal for which the Goddess had been striving for the entire time. For though Myria was fair to behold and her power seemingly a holy miracle, her heart was twisted and evil. Gleefully she encouraged each of the Dragon factions seperately, goading them on to greater and greater atrocities. The other Clans were caught up in the wars as well, some siding with the Light Dragons and some with the Dark. This gladdened the black heart of Myria further, and she appeared before them to encourage them in bloodshed and slaughter as well.

The entire world was soon caught up in the carnage. From one pole to the other, one horizon to the next, all was war and death wherever one looked. The bloody battles dragged on with no signs of ending, and with each man that fell, was Myria's glee increased. Finally, a decade after the war had begun, when the entire world stood at the brink of total destruction... a hero appeared. A Light Dragon youth whose name was Ryu. A legend in the Dragon Clan told that whenever the world was in danger of obliteration, a hero named Ryu would rise to save it. Several times already had a Ryu done so. And now, it seemed, the time had come for the cycle to be renewed.

Ryu the Light Dragon joined with heroes from the other Clans, seven in all following him. They were united with one common goal; to stop the war, no matter what the cost. Together, they discovered the true nature of Myria, and confronted her, revealing her foul motives to all. And with the aid with the good and just God of the Dragons, did they defeat the Goddess Myria and all those who served her, imprisoning her beneath the earth using seven magical keys.

These artifacts came to be known as the Goddess Keys, and once Myria had been sealed away, they were scattered to the four winds to ensure that none would ever be able to gather them all and free the evil Goddess once more. This took many years, but before he died, Ryu had seen to it that all of the Keys were safely hidden and guarded from the world. And in her prison did accursed Myria rage with hatred for the Light Dragons and especially for the one named Ryu.

With Myria gone, the world slowly returned to peace. Grievances were forgotten and hatreds were quelled as the Clans returned to their homes, and the effects of the war buried... BUT for the division between the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons, which was so great that it could never be fully healed again. _The Book of Ladon_


	2. Chapter 1: A Hot Time In The Old Town To...

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Chapter 1: A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight

"Hmm... wonder where everybody is." The young man slouched under a tree muttered to himself. "They're usually out of there by now... Sara's sermon must be unusually long-winded today." He muttered an irritated curse as a particuarly strong gust of wind flipped his hair over his head and into his face. He wore it to shoulder-length, so there was a lot of it. "Argh... maybe Sara was right about me cutting this stuff, though." He shoved the blue mane back into place. "Nah. She'd be disappointed if I actually listened to her instead of letting her talk about it more. Maybe in another month. Ah, here they come... about time." Across the street from his tree, people filed out of a small, marble-white dome building. An old man frowned at him disapprovingly as he passed.

"Skipping church again, Ryu?" The frown turned into a sly grin. "You're going to catch it from Sara when she comes out of there."

"I'm looking forward to it, actually." Ryu grinned back. "We haven't had a good fight since I skipped it last week. Something's had her mopey, and this should bring her out of it."

"Hey, Ryu! Sara's looking for you!" A young woman giggled. Ryu saluted mockingly.

"Message recieved, Tessa. I'll deliver my response personally. Wear earplugs. This might go on for a while."

"Ryu! Ryu! You weren't there today!" A little boy was jumping up and down. "Why not? Didn't you want to see the Dragon God?"

"Of course I do." Ryu laughed. "But I prefer the idea of private worship. I'm not very good at public speaking, and whenever I go Sara always seems to want me to help her out." One by one, the rest of the villagers walked by, at least half of them with some kind of comment. Ryu just kept smiling and responding flippantly, though inside he wondered why they weren't used to it by now. Or maybe they were and that was the problem.

Drogen was not a big town by any means. On the contrary, it was just barely above a village. There were only a couple shops in town, and no inns; there weren't nearly enough travelers to the tiny town on a remote peninsula with nothing to recommend it to make it even remotely worthwhile to open one here. That, of course, was the idea. Even the few passersby didn't notice that the inhabitants were anything but human, since most of them dyed their hair to keep people from noticing that their natural color was, to a man, deep blue. Only Ryu and Sara kept their tresses undyed. Ryu's musing on his home was broken when he noticed somebody standing directly in front of him. A young woman in pure white robes, with blue hair longer than his and a normally serene face that was now covered in a great deal of irritation.

"I see you decided that attending the service was unneccessary again, little brother." Sara observed. "Tell me, what kind of hastily fabricated excuse do you have for yourself this time?"

"Believe it or not, sister dear, I actually have a good one." Ryu bowed flaboyantly.

"Shocking." Sara murmured. "I think I may faint. What is it?"

"It's too crowded in there." Ryu pointed at the dome. "I mean, look. It's barely twenty feet wide. You can barely cram everybody else in there at once as is. I shudder to think what it's like in the big cities. And look, it's blazing hot. Not to insult our neighbors, but when you put those two factors together, the result is NOT pleasant. I think one of these days I'll track down whatever brain-sick architect it was that decided that THAT was an ideal size for temples and set him on fire or something."

"Those temples were designed by the Dragon God, stupid." Sara fought to hide the smile she felt coming to her face. Ryu, however, saw it anyways.

"Oh, really? Good. That makes things a lot simpler. What's that statue of him in there made of, and how flammable is it?"

"Har. Har. Har." Sara gave up and let the smile show, but her eyes remained serious. "Keep dodging service and talking like that, bro, and you're gonna have hard luck when you go on your pilgrimage."

"I told you already, I'm not going on the pilgrimage." Ryu's smile faded away. "I'm just not. It's as simple as that."

"And I've already told you, you don't have a choice in the matter." Sara snapped, then sighed. "Look, bro. For the rest of the people here, it's a choice, yeah. They're just ordinary Light Dragons. But you and me... we're descendants of HIM. The one you're named after. Why do you think you WERE named Ryu? We've got a duty. That's why we don't dye our hair like the others."

"Why YOU don't dye your hair." Ryu retorted. "I do it because it looks cool."

"Sara's right, grandson." The old man from earlier said as he walked up. "The pilgrimage isn't a matter of choice. It wasn't for any of us... for me, for your mother, for Sara... and it isn't for you. My brother Gaspar still serves as one of the High Priests, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I know all too well." Ryu snorted and gave them both a cold glare. "I know that this town has no need for more than one priest... or priestess, sister. I complete that pilgrimage, swear my life to the service of Ladon, and a million zenny says before the year is out I'm moved out to some city on the other side of the world to lead a bunch of fat merchants in prayer for the rest of my life. No, thank you. I've lived here in Drogen my whole life, and I am fine with living here for the rest of it."

"Seeing the outside world isn't too bad, grandson." An old woman said as she joined her husband. It was Esma, Ryu's grandmother. "If Theo had never left on his pilgrimage, he never would have met me, and I wouldn't be here with you all now."

"I'm still not doing it." Ryu persisted stubbornly. Before the others could continue the argument, they all heard frantic footsteps accompanied by heavy breathing. A few moments later, another young man entered the village, eyes wide with fright.

"The Dragons... the Dark Dragons!"

"Hey, hey! Take it easy, Luke!" Theo yelled. "Stop, catch your breath, and then tell us what you found out up north. What about the Dark Dragons?" Luke gulped in a few breaths before speaking again.

"The Dark Dragons... their army has taken Nanai!"

"WHAT!" Ryu screamed. "Nanai? But that's just north of here!" The old woman frowned.

"The Dark Dragon army... yes, this is ill news indeed..." Unlike the Light Dragons, the Dark Dragons had not attempted to hide themselves after the great war; indeed, they went in the opposite direction, building their home town of Scande up into one of the most prosperous cities in the world. Still, things had remained peaceful.. until their current leader, Emperor Zog, had taken the throne. Under his rule, the Dark Dragons had formed a mighty army, greater than any other in the world.

"That fool Zog... is he trying to conquer the planet?" Theo whispered. "What runs through his head...?" Sara laughed bitterly, without any trace of humor.

"I've met Zog. Sanity is not one of his strong points."

"What? You met Zog!" Ryu stared at his sister. "When was this!"

"At the end of my pilgrimage." Sara told him. "He had never seen a Light Dragon before, and was curious, so when he heard about me he went to the third Great Temple. It wasn't very pleasant." She turned to the scout. "The army. Who's in command? A Knight, a Captain, a General? It can't be their millitary leader, Admiral Cean, can it?"

"Worse..." Luke moaned. "It's one of the Tiamat Unit!" The others hissed sharply in surprise. "I can't be certain, but rumors were that it's the Gold Lord himself!"

"The Gold Lord... Zog's second-in-command..." Sara mused. "No, it can't be him. Zog's not exactly stable, but even he wouldn't send the Gold Lord personally just to occupy Nanai."

"What if Nanai's not the main goal?" Ryu wondered, suddenly scared. "What if they're going to come... here?" His family looked sharply at each other before laughing nervously.

"Oh, no... don't worry about that, Ryu!" Theo shook his head. "The Dark Dragons don't even know this place exists. There's no way they'd come here."

"Still..." Esma thought. "Better to be on the safe side. We should probably leave the town for a little while."

"Tomorrow." Sara declared firmly. "Give everybody one more night of peace. Luke, I trust I can count on you to keep quiet about this?" He nodded. "Good. Starting a panic won't help anything. I'll tell everybody tomorrow, and we'll take a week and hide out in those caves to the west. Until then, though, we should probably head home. The sun's setting."

That night, Ryu dreamed of the temple. He was walking down the streets of the town towards it, and for some reason, everything had a sooty red glow to it. Something deep inside screamed at him that this was horribly wrong, but he felt an odd detachment from it all. He didn't even blink when soldiers with sharp weapons dripping blood ran across the path; he just waited for them to pass and continued on. The normally pristine white temple was affected by the red light like everything else, almost a blood red. Above it, a humongous figure crouched, bigger than the entire town. Scales shifted and breath hissed, but he ignored it and walked into the temple. Inside, he walked down the tiled path and stopped in front of the statue at its center. About eight feet tall, the statue was carved out of a dark, almost black-green stone and represented a dragon reared up on its hind legs. Ryu kneeled in front of it and closed his eyes, bowing his head in prayer. A cold hand placed itself on his shoulder, and he looked up to see that the statue had come to life. That place in the back of his mind was shrieking warnings even more, but Ryu remained calm as its eyes glowed with blue lights.

"It is time, warrior. You must go into the world once more. The time has come for you to emerge again, Ryu."

"Uh... warrior?" Ryu's mind, half-asleep as it was, struggled with that concept. "I'm not... a warrior..."

"Indeed you are. You have been a warrior since birth." The statue smiled briefly. "You were named Ryu for a reason. Go forth, Ryu. Return yourself to the world and push back the darkness!" Throughout the conversation, the red glow had grown more and more pronounced. The statue looked around as if noticing it for the first time. "Enough of this! There is no more time!"

"Huh?" Ryu muttered. The statue grabbed his other shoulder and stared straight into his eyes.

"Wake up, warrior! Disaster has struck! Your people need you... the world needs you! It needs the power of the Light Dragons once more!" The red glow was suffusing everything, and now it was getting hot... hotter... Ryu stared as the statue was covered in fire. "Wake up, warrior! Wake up!"

"Ryu, wake up! Hurry! Wake up, Ryu! You'll die if you don't wake up!" Esma was shaking him frantically. He jerked upright in bed.

"Huh? What is it?" He looked around, horrified, to see flames everywhere. That part wasn't just a dream.

"The entire village is on fire! Everything is burning! We need to get out of here, now!" Esma shouted. Ryu's room was in the basement, and nearly everything was wood. Ryu jumped out and grabbed a robe, shoving it on even as he and his grandmother ran. As they passed Sara's room, Ryu stole a quick glance inside and noted with relief that she wasn't inside. A loud cracking noise up ahead drew his eyes front and center just in time to see a flaming beam from the ceiling fall down, seperating him from Esma.

"Aw, hell."

"I'll take care of this fire!" She held her hands out and concentrated, muttering a few words. A moment later, ice burst from her palms and covered the beam, putting out the fires. Ryu moved forward to catch her as she slumped forward.

"You okay?"

"Just give me a moment..." She straightened up. "Whew... I didn't think I had gotten this bad... fifty years ago, I was one of the best magicians in the world. And look at me now, barely able to douse a small fire..."

"We can't talk about this now, grandma. We need to get out of here now!" The two of them ran upstairs to the ground floor. Everything was stone here, and the fire hadn't reached the roof yet. Almost all the villagers were gathered around, and Theo was trying to calm them.

"Whew... up here, we should be safe from the flames for a little, at least." Esma sat down heavily in a chair. Ryu nodded and walked over to his grandfather.

"What happened, grandpa? Why is everything burning? This can't be just because of some accident with a torch or anything..."

"We don't know what caused the fire." Theo shook his head. "The good news is, everybody's safe... well, almost everybody... Luke hasn't shown up yet..."

"The fire's so intense... it can't be natural." One villager spoke up. "We need to get out of here before it gets worse. Esma's magic can hold it off long enough for us to escape, right?" Ryu and Theo both turned to stare at him.

"Look at her, buddy! Just putting out one beam almost made her faint. Hell no, she can't hold it off! She's in her eighties!"

"O... kay." The villager sighed. "We woke up surrounded by flames... what did we do to deserve this? No telling how long this building will be safe..."

"What about Sara, then?" His wife suggested. "Her magic can protect us, right? She's a priestess of the Dragon God..." Ryu suddenly realized that Sara wasn't among the crowd.

"Wait... where is Sara?"

"Out looking for Luke. She'll be fine, Ryu." Theo assured him. As if on cue, the door slammed open, and Sara and Luke stormed in. The young man's face was filled with raw fear and terror, but Sara's features were locked in an icy fury.

"Sara, what is it? What's happening?" Ryu asked her. She stopped for a moment to get control of herself before responding.

"This fire... it's the Dark Dragons! They did it!" Everybody in the room went white. "Their army is surrounding the town!" Theo swore loudly and smashed his fist against a wall.

"They knew we were Light Dragons... they came here intentionally to wipe us out!" Luke stepped forward.

"I heard some of the soldiers talking... if they were right, Emperor Zog is going to try and conquer the world! We're just one of his targets!" Theo swore again.

"Zog is an insane fool!"

"Why are they coming after us?" Ryu demanded. "We haven't done anything to the Dark Dragons in thousands of years!"

"Zog fears us, that's why." Esma walked over to her husband, eyes glittering. "He doesn't know that Sara's the only one of us still able to use the power of the Dragon God, and he's not one to take chances! The Light Dragons fought the Dark Dragons once, and he's trying to make sure we don't do it again!" Theo stalked over to an old cabinet and pulled out an ancient sword, jaw clenching and unclenching rhythmically.

"I won't sit by while Zog's armies march in here and destroy our home! I say we act now and fight back! They've got us surrounded, so we can't escape, and that means there's only one thing to do! We may not have the Dragon power, but we can still fight!" Esma slowly nodded.

"I'll... use my more powerful magics against them, even if it costs me my life! Let's go!" The other villagers began to murmur in agreement. As they turned towards the door, one person stood in their way.

"Wait!" Sara held up her hand. "We can't do this. They're trained soldiers... we're just villagers! We'd be slaughtered!" Luke stepped forward.

"We can't just give up, Sara! And we've got no choice anyways! Let's show them the power of the Light Dragons!" Sara bowed her head.

"No... there is one other option. I must do this alone... I'm the only one who can do anything... I'm sorry..." Light burst from her palm and knocked Luke back, freezing his expression of shock on his face even as he turned stiff and grey. Theo examined the statue with horror.

"Sara... granddaughter, what have you done?"

"I have turned him to stone... these fires are not hot enough to burn it." She looked at them all gravely. "Remember... me and Ryu are not the only ones with responsibilities. We are all Light Dragons. Some of us must survive."

"But stone or not, they'll still find us!" Theo ground his teeth with frustration.

"That... is what I shall take care of. Forgive me..." She raised her hands again, and one by one, all the villagers became statues as well. Ryu and Theo were the last to be affected.

"No... why does it have to be you...?" The old man croaked.

"Because... I'm the only one who can. You have all suffered enough... I'll get rid of the army. Goodbye, grandpa... grandma..." She walked over to Ryu. "Little brother... be strong. Now, you truly have no choice..." She tucked a slip of paper into the statue's hand, then kissed him on the cheek. "When you're a warrior... you will bring peace to this world." Sighing, Sara walked towards the door, then turned towards the villagers once more. "May the Dragon God bless you all..." She left the house. Outside, every single building had at least some fire on it. Sara gritted her teeth and walked forward. It was only a few moments before a pair of soldiers noticed her.

"Hey, a girl!" They ran up. One of them leered.

"A pretty one, too... maybe we should take her back to Scande with us..."

"Wait, look at her." The other one frowned. "Blue hair... she's a Light Dragon! Lord Jade was right... and she's wearing white robes... she's a priestess!" The first one recoiled in fright.

"What do we do?"

"Take her to Lord Jade..." The second one said after a moment. "He'll know what do with her." Sara nodded.

"Very well. I won't cause any trouble... to you, at least. Shall we go?" The first soldier started to raise his fist, but thought better of it and called two more soldiers over to help.

"We'll finish searching the area later. Have everybody gather south of the town now!" Sara kept quiet as the soldiers marched her through the south exit of the town into the center of the armies. They stopped in front of the leader. "Sir! We've captured a Light Dragon priestess!"

"Hmm... very good." The man murmured. He looked Sara over, then blinked, as if recognizing somebody he had seen before. "Aha... so, now it comes... release her, then step back, all of you." The soldiers hastily complied, and he bowed stiffly with a mocking smirk. He had long, blond hair and he wore a pure white cape over fancy armor. "Excuse me, your holiness. Soldiers are rough by nature. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jade, the Gold Lord." The man introduced himself, fingering a stone of his namesake on an amulet he wore. "I'm the leader of the Tiamat Unit of the Dark Dragon Empire, and the second-in-command of Emperor Zog." His features were nice, even handsome, but lined with cruelty, and his eyes were empty of all emotion. "And you?"

"Priestess Sara of Drogen." She replied shortly. "Enough with the pleasantries. Obviously, you're a Dark Dragon yourself. Why have you set fire to our village? What have you to gain by this?"

"Ah! You have a point!" Jade nodded. "Really, I sympathize. Attacking small hamlets isn't my style at all. And you Light Dragons have gotten so weak over the centuries that I doubt you're any threat to us. But... my orders were to destroy the hometown of the Light Dragons. And when Emperor Zog gives orders, only the insane disobey. Soldiers, have her holiness escorted to the palace at Nanai." The soldiers nodded and surrounded Sara again.

"I'm sorry, your holiness... please don't blame me. I'm just following orders." Sara narrowed her eyes.

"Don't worry... killing ordinary grunts isn't MY style at all. However..." She raised her hand, and thunderbolts streaked out of the smoggy sky to strike at the feets of the soldiers. Screaming and cursing, they jumped away, Sara methodically blasting them all back until only she and Jade remained. "You. Our town has been destroyed, and YOU led the strike!" She struck with the thunder again, this time aiming for the head, but Jade disappeared from her view so fast it looked as if he had teleported to the side. The Gold Lord whistled at the size of the crater where he had been standing, and his eyes showed a faint flicker of interest.

"Wow... not bad, your holiness! Not bad at all... you're quite strong. Much moreso than an ordinary priestess... you need to work a little on your speed, though..."

"How about this, then? Come on!" Snarling, Sara attempted to strike him down again, but again Jade dodged, moving behind her.

"I don't think so. Getting better, but still not enough!" He shook his head. "This is all futile, unfortunately. No matter how good you are, I can't let you interfere with Emperor Zog's plans. It's nothing personal... you know how these things go." Sara spun on him.

"Same to you, pal! Nothing personal, but I'm going to stop Zog's plans here and now!" She called down the lightning again, this time striking a glancing blow to the armor on Jade's shoulder. "Whatever he's up to, your involvement in it ends here!" Jade laughed darkly.

"I don't think so, your holiness. Our plans go beyond your current comprehension. For you see, our plans... are the Goddess Keys." Sara froze, staring at him.

"What! The Goddess Keys! You're as insane as Zog is!" Jade calmly walked towards her.

"That may be so. I wouldn't know. But it's beside the point. We already have one of the Keys, and will be acquiring another momentarily. And we know where the other five can be found." He shook his head again. "You're a pretty good scrapper, your holiness. Best fighter I've seen outside of the Dark Dragons in a long time. But you're no match for me, I'm afraid. Not yet..." Sara blinked, suddenly realizing his proximity.

"Ah! Don't come any closer!" She backed away and flung more lightning, but Jade easily stepped aside and advanced on her. "What do you plan to do with the Goddess Myria, anyway? Are you so foolish as to release her upon the world again?" Suddenly, without warning, she struck multiple times at the spot where Jade had been.

"Futile... like I said before." The voice came from behind her, and she whirled around to see Jade, without a scratch. "It's all over, your holiness." He raised a gauntleted arm and flung a cloud of noxious smoke her way, but Sara jumped back. As she expected, he followed her, and as he was moving, she raised her own arm.

"Take this, slime!" The priestess crowed triumphantly as she released a blistering stream of fire straight into the Gold Lord. "Burn, like our home!" The flames hit Jade and exploded, covering the area around him in fire. Sara frowned. With his speed... "You didn't even try to dodge?"

"Of course, your holiness." Jade responded calmly as he walked out of the fire unharmed. "I wanted to make it as clear as possible how much of a difference there truly is between your power and mine right now. Tell me... have I done so? But I must confess, I thought you had more than THAT... come on, is that really all you've got? I thought you'd be tougher than this..." Sara just stared at him, fear etched on her face. Jade threw back his head and laughed.

"I suppose so... I have no choice, then." Sara's eyes shone, and Jade stopped laughing, eyes burning with interest anew.

"Oho! So, you're going to show me what the pilgrimage does for Light Dragons... well, then, your holiness, bring it on!"

Back in the center of the town, the fires still did not touch the large stone house at its center. The statues inside remained safe and silent. They did not hear nor see the dreadful struggle between the Priestess of Drogen and the Gold Lord. Some time later, the soldiers moved towards the building.

"Lord Jade, shall we search here?" Jade shook his head.

"No... there's no need. We've completed our mission... we've got what we came here for. And maybe even more besides... I think the rest of the Tiamat Unit will be very interested in this. Let's move out, soldiers!"

"Sir!" Saluting, the soldiers formed up in lines and walked away. But the flames of Drogen continued to burn long after they had gone.

It was a long time before the fires went out of their own accord. Not until the next day had begun did the town of Drogen become cold and dark once more. The instant the last ember died, the people of Drogen had been returned to life. Now, they clustered around Theo and Esma. The Dark Dragon army had left, leaving none behind... and there was no trace of Sara either. She was gone.

"Sara saved us..." Luke muttered, speaking for all of them. "We have to fight back! For her sake, if for nothing else!"

"No, you don't." Esma shook her head bitterly. "None of you have gone on the pilgrimage. You all renounced the power of the Light Dragons. You have no more power than ordinary humans, and no fight with the Dark Dragons... any of you!"

"No... we are still the same people, the same clan!" The villagers continued to rally. "We must fight for Sara! And for the pride of the Light Drag-"

"ENOUGH!" Esma slammed her foot down, and the whole building began to shake, floor cracking and ceiling falling down. "You are not warriors! You are farmers, villagers! And you must think of survival! This entire town is in ruins; soon, it will be nothing but rubble! Go now! Salvage what you can, and escape this place!" Still they hesitated.

"GO!" Theo boomed, and as one, the Light Dragons turned and ran. All save one. Ryu had not moved since he had learned that Sara was nowhere to be found. He crouched in a corner, face completely blank, rolling a piece of paper back and forth in his palm. Esma turned to look at him, about to speak sharply, but stopped herself and turned back to her husband.

"Blast it... there is no Light Dragon clan anymore. Not really. All that's left is powerless villagers... there will never be another hero from our clan. We should leave as well..."

"I don't think so." Theo shook his head. "I think there is one here who would dispute that theory of yours... right, Ryu?" His grandson remained motionless for a moment more, then slowly stood up.

"I am leaving now." He looked at both of them. "I'm going on the pilgrimage. I'm going to master the power of the Light Dragons." Theo nodded.

"I know I should try to stop you, Ryu... but I can't. I'd go with you if I wasn't too old..." Esma started to say something, but stopped again and shook her head.

"Ryu, just let me ask you... why?"

"Sara wanted it." Ryu responded without any emotion. "She left this in my hand... it's directions to the first Dragon Shrine. She had planned to give it to me on my next birthday, but when this happened..." He rubbed his eyes. "I have to go. She was right all along. I'm going to use the power of the Dragon God... I'll find her. There was no body... she's not dead. The Dark Dragons still have her. Wherever Sara is, I'll get her back from those stinking savages..." The young man's eyes blazed. "And then I'll kill Emperor Zog!" Theo blinked.

"Zog? You think you can kill him, Ryu? It's not possible!"

"In my present state, no." Ryu agreed. "But once I've unlocked the Light Dragon's power... I will. Don't try to stop me, either of you... I've made up my mind on this. I'm going, and I'm doing it now."

"We won't..." Esma promised. "Maybe I was wrong... maybe the Light Dragon bloodline hasn't gotten as weak as I had thought. You might just have a chance. Here..." Digging into her pocket, she pulled out a pouch and gave it to her grandson. "It's not much... only three hundred Zenny. But it's all we've got... take it. Go to the city of Camlon in the north... you can buy equipment and supplies for the trip."

"Speaking of that..." A voice came from the door. The three of them turned to see all the villagers coming back in. Luke cleared his throat. "Ryu... I'm sorry. Theo and Esma are right... none of us would be able to help you if we came along."

"We heard where you're going, Ryu." A lady who had formerly run a store continued talking after him. "But we have to help you somehow... so we all chipped in. Like Esma said, we don't have much, but this is all we can do... we just hope it helps you." She laid down a package, apparently a mass contribution from all the villagers, and opened it. A small, thin sabre, an old, weathered red cape, a wooden shield, a few medicinal herbs, an antidote for poison and some meager food supplies. Ryu looked it over, then gave them all a thankful grin.

"This is great, all of you... thanks... are you sure you can stand to lose all this?"

"Promise us something in return, Ryu." Her husband, the former weapons dealer for the small town, growled. "Bring back Sara to this town... and that madman Zog's head on a spear too!"

"I will." Ryu picked up his new sword and saluted them. "I swear it by the Dragon God himself." He turned back to his grandparents. "Camlon north of here... right. I'd have to go that way anyways to get off this peninsula... but after that, I don't know. These instructions don't mean anything to me at all... look." He showed them the note Sara had left in his hand.

South of the silent guardian,

Across a snake of blue,

The first Dragon Shrine

Will be waiting there for you.

"Yup... that's correct, all right." Theo grunted. "Same instructions I followed when I was your age."

"But what do they mean? I need to know, grandfather!" Ryu protested. The old man just shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't rightly remember, my boy... it's been too long, and besides, part of the pilgrimage is solving that yourself. The Dragon God was the one who wrote the instructions, and every dragon who goes that way has to figure them out themselves. All I can tell you is that it's in the east... head north to Camlon, then east."

"Right... I'll do that, then." Ryu sighed. "Once I reach the first Dragon Shrine, will they have directions to the next one?" Theo nodded. "Okay. I'd best be off, then... the sun's rising, and I want to get in a full day of walking to start."

"Goodbye, Ryu..." Esma whispered, tears in her eyes. Theo nodded as well, unable to speak. Ryu just smiled sadly.

"Goodbye." Hugging each of his grandparents, he then shook the hands of all the villagers before leaving the house and then the village. The sun was rising behind him as he left by the west gate, and its first rays caught on the old red cape he now wore. "Sara... Zog. Wherever you are... I'll find both of you."


	3. Chapter 2: Key To The World

**__**

Chapter 2: Key To The World

"Well, here I am. One day into the pilgrimage." Ryu dropped to the ground and stared into the sunset. "I should make Camlon tomorrow, with any luck..." Sighing, he pulled the pack off of his back. "Dinner time..." He examined the scant supplies; a few apples, a small bundle of carrots, a single loaf of bread and a leg of chicken. "Not much. I suppose I should really save this for when I need it... like when there's nothing to catch around. For now..." He smiled at a wild pig snuffling in a bush about twenty feet away. "Might as well give it a shot." It should be noted here that Ryu had spent his entire life within the village of Drogen. Before the fire, their own labors had garnered them enough food to live by, and so, hunting outside game had never been neccessary. Thus, one can perhaps forgive his ineptness. Ryu's attempt to sneak up on the animal silently got him about five feet closer before it pulled its head out of the bush and stared at him. Ryu smiled reassuringly and continued walking slowly forward. "Here, pig pig pig... it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you..." The pig, of course, immediately bolted. Pigs are not stupid, after all. Swearing, Ryu gave chase. Here, we come to his second error in judgement, that being that the pig would simply run in a frenzy. It only took a few head-on collisions with trees to make the young man realize that his would-be dinner was deliberately heading towards them and turning at the last second to make him hit. By the time he did realize this, of course, the pig was long gone. Sighing, Ryu sank to the ground.

"Well, that was educational. Where's a tame cow when you need one..." A snorting behind him made Ryu jump to his feet and spin to behold the answer to his question... or at least, something passingly akin to it. Behind him stood a Bulla, a purple-skinned monster that dwelled in the area. It seemed to be some amalgamation of cow and pig, and possessed the anger management problems of both bull and boar. The Bulla did not run. It charged, eyes glowing red. This, Ryu knew how to deal with. Waiting until the last second like the pig he had been chasing, Ryu stepped aside and thrust his sabre into the monster's side as it passed. The Bulla squealed and turned, bloody froth dripping from its mouth, then attempted another feeble charge. It managed about two feet before collapsing. Ryu shrugged and pulled out his blade, cleaning it on the grass.

"Hm. Monster, yes, but it looks like I might be able to eat it. Might as well find out... it's getting dark, so I'm not exactly high on options. Next time, I'll start looking for dinner a little earlier." He dragged his Bulla back to the place where he had left the pack (which had amazingly remained undisturbed) and built a campfire, as well as a makeshift spit, from nearby deadwood. By the time the monster had roasted, it was completely dark out. "Time to see if this is edible." Hesitantly taking a bite, Ryu shrugged. "Tastes enough like beef. Should do." He ate as much as he could, then stripped the rest of the meat off the skeleton and wrapped it. "Now, all I have to figure out is a bed... I really should have thought this out better." About all he could find was a pile of leaves. "I'll have to pick something better up in Camlon..." Muttering, he turned in.

A few hours later, the blue-haired warrior slowly came awake. There was something rustling in the bushes, and a disgusting squishing sound. Ryu slowly reached over to his sword and took it without making a sound, then suddenly jumped up and stabbed the creature sneaking up on him. It was a dark blue, roughly pyramidal mass of slime. Squealing, it expired, leaking goo. Ryu spat.

"Slime. Stupid scavengers." More squishing sounds came from the remains of the Bulla, and he looked over to see three more Slimes crawling over it, melting it down with the acids that made them up. "Aah... friends." One by one, the Slimes turned to point their tops at him. The first one jumped at him, and Ryu pierced it with one stab. Hurling it off his blade and ignoring the splattering on the grass, he ran forward and impaled the second. Unfortunately, his sword got caught in the Bulla's ribs, and while he struggled to free it, the third attached itself to his arm and began releasing acid. Ryu swore and threw it against a nearby ridge, jerking his sword free at the same time and stabbing the last Slime (as well as the wall behind it). The Slime slid down the wall and expired. Ryu sighed and looked at his sword.

"Better clean this off before I go back to sleep..." Grass wasn't sufficient for the acidic slime, so he ended up having to find a stream, after which he ended up sleeping in a tree for the rest of the night to avoid more monsters.

The next day, Ryu arrived at the city of Camlon around noon. Camlon wasn't exactly a big city, but it was larger than Drogen, and it had an old castle at the north end of the city overlooking it all. Ryu casually walked in the main gate, expecting to find a bustling community. What he found instead was a great deal of wreckage. Camlon had seen better days, and most of the buildings had at least been partially broken down. There were, however, no signs of fire.

"At least that's something... but still. What the hell happened here?" Frowning, he walked down the main road. The only building that had not suffered some damage aside from the castle was the Dragon Temple. Apparently, whatever had caused this hadn't dared touch that. A large crowd was gathered in front of the drawbridge leading to the castle. "Hey, friend!" Ryu walked up to a passing man his own age. "What happened here? This city doesn't usually look like this, does it?" The man turned.

"Eh? Oh, no... not another Nanai refugee... there's far too many here as it is!"

"I'm not from Nanai." Ryu assured him. "I'm from Drogen down south, and I'm just passing through."

"Well, that's a relief..." The man sighed. "Drogen, eh? Haven't seen anybody from there in a long time. Anyways, no, Camlon's not like this at all. It's just that it's been one disaster after another..." He looked around the crowd and selected another man. "Hey, you. You're from Nanai, right? Come here." Ryu frowned.

"Nanai... that's on the other side of the river from here, right?"

"Yeah..." The second man agreed wearily. "A few days back, the Dark Dragon army marched up out of nowhere and demanded we surrender. We had a few guards around, but nothing even remotely capable of standing up to them, so we had no choice but to agree. We all ran, and the army occupied Nanai... so we came down here to Camlon. The people here took us in, but..."

"Last night, a horde of monsters attacked." The first man took up the story again. "They swarmed in here and made for the castle. By the time everybody realized what was going on, they had already occupied it... every hour or so, a few come out and attack. We've managed to avoid any casualites aside from the people who were in the castle, but I don't know how long that'll last..."

"That's a problem, all right..." Ryu nodded, then grimaced. "Look... I don't mean to sound like a jerk or anything, but could I get something to eat? All I've had since I left home was some roasted Bulla..."

"Bulla? You can slay monsters?" An older man's voice asked, and the crowd parted to reveal a man dressed in rich robes and a crown. Ryu quickly bowed.

"Your majesty, I... yes, I have killed a few monsters. But..."

"But nothing, young man!" A Lord standing by the King's side interrupted. "If you can slay monsters, then you're just what we need! Nobody else here has the slightest idea of how to do so... you're our only hope!"

"What about him?" Ryu pointed at a man who looked like some kind of guard. He blanched.

"Me? Fight monsters? You're joking! I'm just a night watchman! I couldn't kill a Slime!"

"What else can we do?" Another Lord asked plaintively. "These stinking monsters won't go away until this entire city's theirs. Please... you're our only hope!"

"I'm just a villager... I know how to use a sword, but a pack as big as the one that's in there..." Ryu stopped as the King bent down on his knee, eliciting a shocked gasp from everybody present.

"Young warrior, please... the Dark Dragons took my city. They will take over the rest of my kingdom unless we can establish a base... I made a mistake. Now, I have to pay for it and rebuild... but I can't do that unless this is taken care of. I'm not afraid of the Dark Dragons anymore... I'll give my own life if I need to to get them out of my kingdom... but I can't fight them unless Camlon is made safe!" Ryu slowly nodded.

"...All right. On those terms... I'll try. Listen... take everybody and go into the Dragon Temple. You might have noticed that the monsters won't touch it... you'll be safe there."

"The Dragon Temple..." One of the Lords frowned. "Yes, that is true. We had noticed... are you, perhaps, a follower of God?"

"I'm more than that, friend." Ryu smiled as he walked across the drawbridge. "I'm one of the Light Dragons." The King's eyes looked as if they were going to start from his head, but Ryu kept walking. "Now, get into that temple. I'll see what I can do about your infestation." Murmuring to each other, the crowd moved off. Ryu sighed once they were all gone. "Two days out, and I'm already heading into a life-or-death situation against a vastly superior force." He shrugged and walked inside. "Well, Sara always said I was good at getting myself up to my neck in trouble..."

The castle wasn't as dark inside as Ryu had expected. Apparently, the monsters hadn't bothered dousing the torches. However, they had done some significant structural damage; the main hall was blocked off at the first place it turned left and right by rubble both to the right and ahead. Ryu turned left down a side hall. Another passage on his left was blocked by rubble, but there was a door on the right. He turned and found himself face-to-face with a monster-a hovering, spiky blue ball with a bird's face. "A Beak!" Shrieking, it snapped at his face, drawing blood. Angered, Ryu swatted it aside with his blade, and it backed up for a dive. All it accompished with that was neatly skewering itself on his sabre. Shaking it off, Ryu felt his face and winced; the wound was fairly deep. A moment later, though, his attention was diverted. Something was making a quiet, strange noise... like water flowing. The wound forgotten, Ryu walked forward down the hall and found a small pool set into the floor. Water was constantly pouring into it out of a faucet carved like a dragon's head.

"Nice... I could use a drink." Bending over and keeping an eye out for monsters, he drank deeply. The water tasted strangely powerful... like it was full of some kind of energy. "Wierd... hey!" Feeling his face, Ryu realized the wound caused by the Beak had closed. "A Spring of Life... Sara told me about these. They heal all wounds... looks like the monsters couldn't break these either. I'll have to say an extra prayer or two next time I find time to go to the temple..." Continuing through back halls of the castle, Ryu was able to avoid further injuries from the angry Beaks. Grinning, ghostly heads however, proved much more dangerous; if given a moment, they would deliver a powerful electric shock. After the first time that happened, Ryu learned to deal with them quickly in any encounter. What seemed like an eternity later, he found some stairs to the basement. Sprawled in front of them, however, were some well-gnawed bones. Ryu glanced at them once, then forced his eyes away; they were human. "Ugh... keep control, Ryu. Monsters like dark places; likely be more down here." Strangely, the basement seemed uninhabited by beasts. There was a strange pile of pink mud in one corner, but that was all. A heavy metal door looked much more interesting.

"Wonder what's in here? Looks like some sort of armory..." Ryu grunted and forced the door open. "Rust... hasn't been used in a while. Good... no monsters in here." It was indeed an armory of sorts, although there wasn't much; a heavy bronze sword and a pair of steel gauntlets. Ryu put on the latter and hefted the former. "Bronze isn't as good a metal as steel... but this is a better sword to my style of fighting. Think I'll take it." He spun, hearing a gurgling noise; the mud had come to life! It reached for him, and instinctively, Ryu swung at it. The creature's top half was sliced right off, and it flew across the room to impact messily with the wall. Ryu smiled. "Very nice. Yes, I will take this. For all I'm doing for these people, the least they owe me is the pick of their tools." Back up to the main floor, more back hallways eventually wound around to join up the main hall again. A single treasure chest sat in front of a staircase leading up. "Now, what's in this?" Opening it, he yelled in surprise as a splash of water exploded in his face. "Huh...?" He blinked; it was Water of Life. "Huh... wonder what THAT was for. Well, at least now I know that chests can be booby-trapped... and they won't all be nice."

"Who's there?" A voice came from the top of the stairs. It sounded rough and slimy... almost like a frog's croak. Ryu didn't bother answering; he simply charged up and stared. It WAS a frog, sitting on a stone throne, about the size of his hand. It glared up at him. "You're human! You have no reason to be in my castle! Get out of here!"

"Yeah, right, slimy." Ryu laughed. "You might want to get off that throne before the other critters see you. I doubt they'd be amused."

"You mock me? How dare you!" The frog swelled up, inflating its throat sack... and it kept swelling. Ryu took a step back as the tiny amphibian grew into a heavily muscled, armor-plated monster with spiked shoulders and a tuft of orange hair, at least eight feet tall. "Slimeless human wretch! You think you can drive ME out! Go ahead then! Try! I'll show you who owns this castle now!"

"Well, shit." Ryu swore under his breath. "I'm in it even deeper than before... no helping it, though!" Shouting a battle cry, Ryu ran forward swinging his sword. Laughing, the Frog opened its mouth and spewed a ball of purple slime. It took Ryu full in the face, and he fell back with a cry; the gunk burned like acid! The Frog advanced, laughing even harder than before.

"Ha! Is that all you can-eh?" Growling, Ryu wiped the slime out of his face and sprang forward, cutting into the Frog's chest. Surprised, it stepped back, and he continued on the offensive, opening up several more wounds. Snarling, it opened its mouth again, and its long tongue lashed out, whipping him across the face. Ryu took the hit in stride and, with another howl, slashed at the monster's neck. His sword went in, but the Frog seemed unfazed by the attack. "Ha! That won't kill me!" Suddenly changing direction, it moved forward in a crushing tackle, smashing Ryu up against the wall. "Got you that time, human!"

"Mistake..." Ryu growled, breaking free with a burst of strength that made the Frog grunt in surprise. "I'm not a human!" He swung his sword again, aiming for the neck wound, and the Frog's head went flying, severed cleanly. It rolled across the floor and hit a wall. As Ryu walked over to it, the Frog's eyes slowly opened.

"Oooh... I underestimated your strength, warrior... of whatever species you are..." Ryu nodded.

"Yeah, you did. You should have cleared out when I told you to... now you're dead." The Frog looked vaguely surprised.

"So... I am. It's... not as painful as I expected it to... be..." With one last groan, its eyes closed, and it spoke no more. Ryu looked around, sniffing.

"The air... it's changing. Doesn't smell so bad anymore... if fresh air's coming in and replacing the foul... the other monsters must have run. This bozo was their chief, looks like... well, I certainly ain't complaining. I've had enough fights for one day." He examined his sword critically. "Ugh... frog guts. Nothing to wipe it off on... and I certainly can't wash it in the Spring of Life. Maybe the moat outside..." Sighing, he started back. As he left the castle, the doors swung shut behind him. The crowd was gathered outside, and as he left, they erupted in a loud cheer. Ryu just frowned. "I thought I told you all to go to the Dragon Shrine..."

"After you got rid of the monsters, there was no need, young man!" The King greeted him happily. "We all heard them when they ran, and we knew you had succeeded. You're a hero! And we don't even know your name... who are you, young man? I'm King Firdan..." Ryu smiled and shook his hand.

"My name... it's Ryu. I'm a Light Dragon." King Firdan blinked.

"Ryu... I believe I've heard that name somewhere before..." Suddenly, everybody screamed as the ground began shaking. Ryu threw himself to the ground, vaguely noting that everybody else was doing the same. Once it had passed, he got up and helped the King to his feet.

"Your majesty... what was that?" Firdan's eyes were frightened.

"An earthquake... no! The Dark Dragons... they've found it!"

"Found what!" Ryu demanded. "What have the Dark Dragons found, your majesty?"

"Deep beneath Camlon castle..." Firdan took a moment to catch his breath. "There's... a hidden treasure... something that should never have come back into the light of day again... a Goddess Key!" Ryu's heart sank.

"A... Goddess Key? The Dark Dragons have a Goddess Key!" Firdan nodded gravely.

"Yes... the Earth Key... legend says it gives the wielder the power to move the earth itself... what are you doing?" Ryu was trying to push through the crowd.

"I'm leaving... I've got to stop the Dark Dragons..."

"Oh, no you aren't." Firdan caught his arm. "Just hold on one second there, Ryu. You can't go anywhere in the state you're in. You need a good night's sleep, a hot meal and some treatment for those wounds." Ryu struggled for a moment, then stopped.

"All right... I'll go to Nanai tomorrow, then..." Firdan nodded.

"Much better. The Dark Dragons will wait until then. Come on... over here." He led Ryu over to a building that was only slightly damaged, where a series of cots were lined up. "It's not much, but..."

"Right now, it looks great." Ryu smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, your majesty." He flopped down on a cot, and was asleep within seconds.

"Sir Terrack, report." Jade, the Gold Lord, commanded as he walked into the finest house in the town of Nanai. A soldier in ornate blue armor with a short beard scrambled to his feet and saluted quickly.

"Lord Jade! We didn't expect you to return from Drogen so soon, your highness. Otherwise, I would have had all the troops ready to welcome you back! My humblest apologies!"

"Hm... no, it's quite all right." Jade nodded tolerantly. "You are correct... we are back sooner than expected... there is no way you could have known that. However..." He frowned. "I was not inquiring about that, Sir Terrack. I wish to know the status of our... operation." Terrack paled noticably.

"Of course, of course! Apologies again, your highness... as for the Goddess Key... I am afraid that..."

"Let me guess." Jade interrupted sardonically. "It has not yet been retrieved." Terrack nodded in mute terror. "I had expected as much. Tell me, Sir Terrack, why do you suppose the Key has not been removed?"

"The... the cavern has collapsed... caved in... in many places, your highness." Terrack tried to explain. "The men are trying as hard as they can to dig their way through, but it takes time and-"

"Your men are lazy fools, Sir Terrack." Jade cut him off. "The average soldier is only interested in two things. On the battlefield, he's interested in who to kill. Off it, he's interested in food, sleep, cheap alcohol and the nearest girl. You have to give them proper motivation in order to get them to do real work." Terrack nodded.

"Yes, your majesty! What motivation would you suggest?"

"Hmm..." Jade thought about it for a moment. "I've always found the whip to work well. Flogging is a very effective teaching technique, Sir Terrack, and it doesn't require experienced torturers like some of the more exotic punishments. Any man with an arm, a leg and an eye can apply the whip to a soldier's back, and I do believe all of your lieutenants fit those requirements. Are there many trees about?"

"Some, your highness." Terrack nodded. "Not as many as there are to the east, but enough to keep us in firewood."

"Good. If any of the soldiers are particularly resistant, crucify them." Jade smiled faintly. "I'd suggest right in front of the castle... that way, the others should be able to see constant reminders of why they should work their hardest." He frowned again. "Take them down after they've been dead for half a week, though, if it takes that long. That's about the point when the smell gets prohibitive. Don't go easy on your men any longer, Terrack. Emperor Zog wants the Earth Key. To him, it's more valuable than the lives of your entire company. Yourself included." Terrack gulped.

"Don't worry, milord! The Key will be ours in just a few days!"

"It had better... I shudder to think about what would happen to you if it doesn't." Jade remarked as he turned to leave. "Grunt soldiers are one thing, but when it comes to officers, Emperor Zog doesn't really mind the expense of hiring professionals when chastisement is neccessary."

"You'll be bringing the Emperor the Key before half a week is out, your highness!" Terrack assured him again, sweating heavily. Jade shook his head without turning.

"Me? Oh, no. I'm moving out, Terrack. I'll be taking all the men here save your own company with me, so you should have no trouble cramming the remainder into those caverns. We're heading back to Scande immediately."

"Might I inquire why?" The knight asked. Jade stopped in his tracks, and for a moment, Terrack thought he had commited a fatal error. Then the Gold Lord shrugged.

"Why not? We picked up a... treasure in Drogen. A very valuable treasure... one that Emperor Zog will be VERY interested in. So, I am delivering it to him post haste. That's all, really."

"Very well, sir!" Terrack saluted again. "I will not let you down!" Jade turned his head in the doorway, smiling faintly again.

"Your life depends on it." With that, he left the building. Terrack waited until he was sure the Gold Lord was gone, then collapsed into a chair. Groping for a flask, he found it and took a long pull.

"Phew... that was close..." Terrack wiped his brow. "Thought he was going to see through it for a moment there." He stayed at that table for an hour, then lurched to the door and kicked it open. "Lieutenant!"

"Sir Terrack, yes sir!" A soldier saluted quickly. Terrack frowned coldly in a clumsy imitation of the way Jade had regarded him.

"Has Lord Jade left Nanai?"

"Ten minutes ago, sir!" The lieutenant reported. "He took most of the men with him... apparently, they're bound for Scande!"

"I know that!" Terrack snapped. "How goes the excavation of the Earth Key beneath Nanai castle?"

"According to the map, we're almost there, sir!" The lieutenant said eagerly. "The soldiers should break through the last of the rubble by tomorrow night, and the Key will be ours for the taking!"

"Good." Terrack started to go back into his house, then stopped. "It had better be done by tomorrow night then, lieutenant... or you'll... you'll be in quite a bit of trouble. Here..." Reaching behind the door, he pulled out a whip. "Go down there and liven those slackers up a bit with this. Get them going, put some fear into them to make them work harder." Handing the whip to the lieutenant, he walked into the house, then poked his head out again. "Oh, lieutenant... when you do break through that rubble, have all the soldiers clear out of the cavern and notify me. I'll take it from there." The door slammed, and the lieutenant hefted the whip before spitting on the ground.

"Jackass... why the Dragon God chose to have HIM made a Knight, I'll never know..." He walked away. Inside the house, Terrack was nursing his flask again, mumbling to himself.

"One more day, that's all. Tomorrow night, the Goddess Key of the Earth shall be mine. I shall pull it forth from the dark cold ground and raise it into the bright warm sky, and the lands themselves will tremble in my wake as I journey to Scande and present the holy Key of the Goddess to the lord Emperor Zog. And he shall be pleased with my offering and pleased with the Key, and he will take me by his side as a sign of his favor, and I shall be exalted above all others. And when the time comes, I will stand with Emperor Zog and the Tiamat Unit, and I shall be the seventh chosen one and I will wield the Earth Key anew, and along with them I shall turn it and free the Goddess. And I will stand equal to Emperor Zog and to Lord Jade, and we shall become like unto gods ourselves, and none in existence will be able to challenge us with the power of the Goddess, of the holy Goddess Myria at our command..."

Ryu was dreaming again. Again, he was entering a temple of the Dragon God. This time, however, there was no red glow overlaying everything; the temple exuded a sense of calmness and peace instead. Ryu knelt before the familiar stone statue and began to pray, closing his eyes.

"Prayer, Ryu? Voluntarily? My, you have changed." The voice came from directly in front of him. It sounded like somebody very old, but still strong, and there was a strangely inhuman quality about it. Opening his eyes, Ryu discovered that the statue was no longer there. In its place was an ethereal spirit, dressed all in robes of green. Its head and claws were those of a dragon. "Come now, Ryu. Get up. There's time for all of that later." Ryu just stared. "What is... oh. That. Yes... this doesn't exactly happen every day, does it?" Ryu nodded, dumbfounded. "Well, I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I'm Ladon, the Dragon God. Don't bother, I already know who you are. I should; I've been watching you ever since you were born." His eyes twinkled. "Was that incident with the Slimes and your sister's clothes drawer when you were ten REALLY neccessary?" Ryu blushed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

"Ah, good. You're talking now." Ladon approved. "I thought that might do it. Don't worry, I'm not going to deatomize you if you say something slightly offending. A lot of that nonsense about immortals is just that; nonsense. Really, we're even more constrained than your kind are a lot of the time. But I'm not here to give you an extended dissertation on comparative mortality... what's wrong?" He broke off, noticing Ryu's eyes were slightly glazed over.

"Um... de-what-atize me?"

"Ay..." Ladon shook his head. "Sorry. I forgot, that term won't come into common usage for several more millenia at least. Never mind, let's just get down to business. You've started your journey, and you're making good time... and you've made your first really important step. Don't get cocky, though; that Frog was nothing more than a tadpole compared to the Dark Dragons. You've done good, I'll give you that, but it's only the first step on a very long staircase."

"So, what's the next step?" Ryu asked, not really expecting an answer. Ladon smiled.

"Believe it or not, I can actually tell you." Ryu blinked in surprise, and the Dragon God chuckled. "I love doing that." Then he grew serious. "Enough. Ryu, you must reach Camlon before tomorrow night. The army there is meddling with that which must NOT fall into their hands. Tomorrow night, Ryu. If you are not in Camlon then, the world's peril shall increase a hundredfold. Be there. Oh, and keep your new sword ready too." Ryu nodded and saluted.

"I'll handle it, milord." Ladon smiled.

"That you will, Ryu. I have faith in you." He looked behind Ryu. "Oh, blast. I'm going to have to go now, Ryu. I'll see you again later!"

"Uh..." Ryu opened his eyes, hearing the bubbling of something boiling. Looking over, he saw King Firdan sitting nearby with two large bowls of stew, smiling.

"Ah, Ryu. I was wondering when you would awaken. Come, have some breakfast. It's not exactly roast Bulla, but..." Ryu laughed.

"Right now, your majesty, I could eat a Slime." He dug into the stew hungrily. "Mmm... this is great. What is it?" Firdan smiled slyly.

"Well, while we were clearing out the castle, we found a giant dead frog... and since we didn't have any other use for it..." He broke out laughing at Ryu's horrified expression. "Joking, joking! I think this is pork, actually. Anyways..." He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "When will you be leaving?"

"As soon as I'm done here, your majesty." Ryu answered calmly. "I have to get to Nanai as fast as possible... the Dark Dragons cannot be allowed to take a Goddess Key, for any reason." Firdan nodded.

"I understand... and agree. The Earth Key is buried in caverns deep below the castle... behind the doors that will be straight ahead of you when you enter the castle. Is there anything we can do for you to repay you?" Ryu thought for a moment.

"Some food... and a sleeping bag. That and a few pieces of Zenny are really all I'll need, I think."

"Consider it done, my young friend." The King stood up. "I'll go get it for you right now." About half an hour later, Ryu departed the town of Camlon, with the entire town cheering and waving goodbye.

"You're awesome, Ryu! Kick Zog's butt!" The night watchman hollered.

"Come back sometime, Ryu! We're going to fix up this old town!" A young woman called. Ryu waved at them all one more time, then began moving north.

Nanai was to the west of Camlon, on the other side of a river, but the only bridge was to the north. Thus, Ryu was forced to head northward, cross the river, and then go back south. However, he still made good time, and arrived at the city before sunset on the following day. "Excellent... I'm here early..." Stopping for a moment to rest, he also took the opportunity to examine the city. Nanai was a port city; the entire south side, against the river, was devoted to docks where ships unloaded their cargo and took on new loads before sailing back south out of the nearby rivermouth to the open ocean. Except for those docks, however, the entire city was surrounded with a massive stone wall, with only one opening on the west side. And that was guarded by a pair of alert-looking soldiers. One of them spotted Ryu and raised his sword threateningly.

"Hey, you! Who goes there? Don't you know that this city is being occupied by the Dark Dragon armies?" Ryu thought fast and assumed a humble stoop.

"No, good sir... I'm just a woodman. I've never been to Camlon before... please don't hurt me."

"This is Nanai, you simpleton." The soldier told him disgustedly. "Camlon's on the other side of the river. Be off with you to there; there's to be no loitering around THIS city." Ryu nodded and retreated.

"My thanks, good sir... I'll go there right now." Once he was a good ways off, Ryu took some time renewing his acquaintance with some decidedly unpleasant words. "Just great... how am I actually going to get IN there?" He paced around, trying to think up a plan. Several hours passed, however, and he still remained outside the walls. Looking at the sunset, Ryu felt himself growing more and more desperate. "Damn it... Ladon told me bad things would happen if I wasn't in there tonight... but was that just a dream?" He watched the last traces of light vanish and swore again. "Can't risk it. Even if it was, I know those punks are going to get the Earth Key soon if I'm not careful." He drew his sword and approached the city. "Guess I'll just have to kill those two and make a break for... huh?" He stopped. The guards were not standing at the entrance to the city anymore. They were lying down inside it. Approaching carefully, Ryu listened and heard snores. He smiled. The two guards were sleeping like bears in winter.

"Thank Ladon for lazy soldiers..." He muttered as he sneaked past into town. He almost laughed as the first building he saw was in fact the Temple, but stopped himself-fortunately, as it turned out, as a soldier walked past in the dark a few streets down only a moment later. Not ALL of them were asleep. As soon as he was gone, Ryu moved past down a dark alley. He moved slowly through the city, frequently having to duck into shadowy corners to avoid roaming soldiers. At one point at the south side of the city, he had to run out onto the docks when a large group came down in his direction. Fortunately, they didn't check the ends of the docks, so he wasn't forced to go swimming to avoid detection. Once they were gone, Ryu went back into the city proper, and emerged onto the main street, where he caught his first sight of Nanai Castle. Flowing water actually ran through the streets of Nanai, creating an effect almost like the city was floating. The beauty of it was increased by well-cropped lawns and lines of trees here and there. Even the buildings were mostly sheathed in white marble. The nighttime calm-enforced even more by the patrols-gave the entire city a very quiet and beautiful air. In the center of it all, resting on a grassy island in the middle of those in-street rivers, was a huge and ancient building. It looked to be at least a hundred feet tall, with a cluster of five towers rising from the main structure. Like other buildings, the entire structure was sheathed in marble. As Ryu walked up, he heard a noise, and turned his head to see the large group of soldiers coming back down the main street behind him.

"Dammit... so close." Ryu swore and got ready to draw his sword, when a firm hand grabbed his. Turning, he was pulled into the door of a nearby building before the guards noticed anything. Inside, he was faced by a large, heavily muscled man and a demure-looking lady, both seemingly in their forties or so. The man was frowning.

"Just what were you thinking, buddy? You know what those soldiers do to anybody they catch outside after the sun sets!" His eyes narrowed. "Hey... wait a second... you're not from around here!"

"Truly." Ryu nodded. "Thanks for the bailout anyways. Yeah, I'm not from Nanai. What are YOU doing here? I thought all of the natives had run for it to Camlon."

"The army made a few of us stay as servants..." The woman answered. "Who are you? Why have you come to this city, if you knew the army was here?"

"I'm here to bust some heads, to tell the truth." Ryu responded calmly. "My name's Ryu, I'm a Light Dragon, and I came here to put a stop to what the Dark Dragons are here for. That's it, really." He assessed the shocked expressions on his benefactors' faces. "Those guards should be gone by now, so I'll head back out. Listen... I'm sorry, but you're going to have to take a risk. Go find all the other civilians, and then you should all get out of the city right away. Something very big's going to go down here tonight, and it's very possible the city of Nanai won't be here at all tomorrow morning."

"The..." The man's face turned white. "What on earth could destroy the city in one night?"

"A Goddess Key, that's what." Ryu opened the door and looked outside. All was clear. "The Dark Dragons are opening up the boxes that should remain closed for all eternity, and one of those boxes is going blow up right in this city's face. I advise you not be around when that happens." Without waiting for a response, he slipped back out into the main street. No more guards bothered him as he approached the castle. Above the main entrance was a carving of the Dragon God's face, like the one that hung over every Temple in the world. "Wow... I wonder how old this place is..." Entering, he found himself facing another pair of metal doors, with halls going both left and right. Not bothering to explore either, Ryu examined the doors right away. There were a multitude of large, heavy locks lying on the floor around it. "Yeah... this is it, all right." Opening the doors, he walked down the flight of stairs behind them. It was a very long flight, and as it trailed downward, the stone brick walls were gradually replaced by brown dirt. Finally, he emerged in a humongous cavern. Glancing to the side, Ryu's eyes went wide.

"No way..." The cavern was a series of underground islands floating on a seething sea of molten lava. High above was a rocky ceiling, proof that he was still underground, but Ryu's mind swam anyways. After staring at the lava for several minutes, Ryu forced himself to get a grip. "So that's it... the Earth Key must be keeping all this in check. If it's removed..." He shuddered. "Gotta move!" Ryu immediately took off, running across a rope bridge that connected to another island. A small flock of Beaks, startled by him, attacked angrily, and he cut them down without stopping. The Beaks weren't the only monsters down there, either; the ethereal heads and piles of pink mud were lurking around too. Ryu mowed them all down, and eventually found the island with the staircase leading down. Again, it was very long, and he emerged in a second lava cavern.

"Dammit... where IS that Key?" Swearing sulferously, he started across another rope bridge, only to find the path blocked by a trio of bright green insects about the size of his hand. Ryu sliced one in half as the other two jumped on him. He threw the second one off and killed it, but before he could get rid of the third, he felt a sharp pain on his arm where the third was crawling. He stabbed it, but the damage was done; something was burning his arm from inside. "Blasted thing must have been poisonous..." Falling to the ground and opening his pack, Ryu pulled out an antidote and drank it. "Phew... good thing the fellas in Drogen gave me this..." He set off again. The rest of the cavern was traversed without incident. On the last island was another set of stairs leading down, this one twice as wide as the ones before and not nearly as long. It led into a small tunnel. At the end there was a raised tier up against the back wall. On the tier was an ancient, monolithic slab of rock covered in complicated designs, with pillars flanking it. Standing in front of all of this on the tier was a single man, wearing heavy blue armor. His red cape and plumed helmet indicated rank. As Ryu approached, the man turned around, short-bearded face filled with outrage.

"Who dares disturb my privacy? I gave specific orders that all soldiers were to depart this cavern! The punishment for disobedience is death!"

"Pretty stupid thing to do, buddy." Ryu laughed shortly. "If there had been soldiers down here, I might have actually had some trouble getting to you. And since you obviously haven't noticed, I'm not one of your men."

"Is that so?" The man growled. "An intruder, then! I'll have your head on a stake! And then I'll use this Key, and I'll take over the world!"

"Somebody's got high ambitions..." Ryu snorted. "You're wearing blue... and unless my knowledge of your color code is incorrect, that means you're just a Knight... you command a hundred men. Please."

"I WILL conquer the world!" The Knight almost shrieked. "And nobody... not you, not Jade, not anybody can stop me!"

"Normally, I'd advise you to just surrender and avoid some unnecessary unpleasantness..." Ryu sighed, and then his eyes glittered. "But I have no sympathy whatsoever for the Dark Dragon armies. Ready to die, Knight?"

"Very well! Prepare yourself, fool, to perish at the hands of Sir Terrack of the Dark Dragon Empire!" Howling, the Knight drew his own sword, a very heavy steel affair that looked to be at least six feet in length. He sneered at Ryu's much smaller bronze weapon. "You think to contend against me with that?"

"One thing I learned early on, Knight... one's weapon isn't as important as how you use it!" Ryu jumped forward and attacked, pressing Terrack back. The Knight raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Oh ho... so you do have skill! However..." With a sudden surge, he smashed his blade forward and sent Ryu flying. "I have skill of my own, beyond yours in that regard as well!"

"Lucky shot..." Ryu growled, getting back to his feet and moving on the attack again. "Come on, then, Terrack... see if you can do it again!"

"That's SIR Terrack to you, whelp!" The Knight struck out again, grazing Ryu's arm. "Hm... you know me, but not the converse. What is your name then, fool?"

"I'm called Ryu... of the Light Dragons." Ryu smiled inwardly as a moment of confusion passed over Terrack's face, and he instantly acted, slicing at the Knight's neck. At the last moment, though, the Knight smashed the Light Dragon aside with his heavy sword again.

"A Light Dragon, eh? Ha! Your kind have grown weak with the passing of the centuries... while the Dark Dragons have become even stronger!"

"That has yet to be decided." Ryu snarled as he jumped back into the fray. The two of them banged on each others' swords for a while. As time passed, however, something began to change. Terrack's heavy blade and armor began weighing him down as he tired, while Ryu stayed at a higher speed and agility with his lighter equipment. Both of them noticed this happening. "Can't keep it up forever, Terrack... and that big blade of yours isn't exactly featherweight!" As if to emphasize his point, he opened up a deep wound on his enemy's right shoulder.

"Argh... then how about THIS?" Gritting his teeth, Terrack raised his sword. A bolt of electricity flew out from it and smashed into Ryu's chest. He went flying across the room, and the Knight laughed. "Got you!"

"Not... just yet..." Growling, Ryu picked himself up and charged. Terrack drew back, frantically defending himself.

"Stay back!" He threw another bolt of lightning, and this time, Ryu took it without faltering, continuing his assault. Terrack was bleeding from a dozen places now. Desperate, he seized his sword in both hands and leaped forward in a titantic overhand swing. Ryu dodged to the side and then thrust forward. His sword slid into Terrack's chest with a steely rasping noise. Terrack's eyes widened, and his blade fell from his hands.

"How... could this be? I've been... killed by... this whelp..." He stopped talking as a fountain of blood burst from his mouth, and he slid off Ryu's blade in a heap. Ryu sighed and leaned against a wall, fighting the urge to just collapse.

"Man... almost bought it there... I should get some of those herbs out of my-huh!" Terrack was crawling towards the monolithic slab at the back. Roaring, Ryu charged forward, but it was too late.

"You've... killed me... but you've sealed... your own fate too!" With the last of his life, Sir Terrack pulled something out of the slab. A key constructed of gold, shaped leaves arching from the top above an eye, curved and bent in the center, and with the head made with bizzare curves, prongs and shapes. It was obviously meant to specifically fit only one lock in all existence. With a smirk on his face, he died, the Earth Key still clenched in his lifeless hand. Ryu picked it up.

"Dammit..." Suddenly, the entire room began shaking. A jewel at the top of the slab began flashing, and the entire stone sunk into the ground. Ryu swore again, more sulferously this time; the entire cave was collapsing! He turned to run, then stopped. In the floor, a glassy orb was set, and it was glowing as well.

"You have done well, little Light Dragon... you will not die today. Use this... it will bring you to safety..." A strange voice hissed. Ryu looked around, surprised.

"What? Who's there?"

"You will know soon enough..." The voice laughed chillingly. "For now, run... run, little Light Dragon, while you can... for no matter how you strive against it, I am returning..." Ryu stood there for a moment longer, then spun and stepped on the glass orb, and everything became blinding white light.

"Uh..." Ryu slowly opened his eyes. King Firdan was standing over him looking concerned.

"Ryu... you're awake. No, don't try to move." He stopped Ryu as the young man started to rise. "Keep still... your wounds still haven't fully healed."

"I'm back in... Camlon?" Ryu looked around, confused. "What happened?"

"That's what we'd like to know." Firdan crossed over to a stove and brought over some food. "We heard a horrendous noise, and all ran out to see Nanai explode! The entire city just collapsed on itself. Then there was a flash of light, and you appeared right next to us, unconscious and covered in cuts. You've been out for more than a day."

"Nanai's destroyed, then?" Ryu asked, taking a bite of a chicken leg. The King nodded.

"Totally. The remainder of the inhabitants all made it out safely thanks to your warning, but as far as we know, not a single one of the Dark Dragon troops still there survived." He looked at Ryu sternly. "Ryu... I want you to tell me the truth. Were you responsible for Nanai's destruction?"  
"I... think so." Ryu looked away. "The Knight in command was taking the Earth Key. We fought, and I won, but he still pulled it out. Everything just kind of went to hell at that point. I was afraid something like that would happen, which is why I warned all the people to get out. If I hadn't interrupted him, maybe... he might have been able to remove the Key without destroying the place..."

"Perhaps. So Nanai was sacrificed in order to stop the Dark Dragons from getting the Earth Key..." Firdan shook his head sadly. "A very hard choice... but you did the right thing. Don't feel guilty, Ryu; we're all still alive, and that's what counts. And since all the Dark Dragons in the kingdom were there, you've freed us from their yoke entirely. Thank you."

"All in a day's work, your majesty." Ryu joked halfheartedly, then reached over to his pack nearby and took out the Key. "So this is a Goddess Key... I suppose it belongs to you, your majesty."

"Keep it, Ryu." Firdan declined. "If the Dark Dragons are trying to acquire one Key, they must be trying for them all. And unless I'm mistaken, you're not going to rest until you've stopped them, right?"

"Count on it." Ryu nodded.

"Very well..." Firdan sighed. "Rest here one more day, and you should be healed enough to walk, at least. Travel east of where Nanai used to be... the kingdom of the Wing Clan is there. They're fighting the Dark Dragons like you are. Here..." He pulled out a piece of paper. "Go to the capital, Winlan. Their king is an old friend of mine... this has my signature on it. It'll get you into the palace."

"Thank you." Ryu smiled and reached for the paper, then winced. "Ow... and I think I'll take you up on your offer to stay here for another day."

"I should hope so." The King laughed. "As you are now, you probably couldn't make it to the north bridge without collapsing." Ryu laughed as well.

"Yeah, but you shoulda seen the other guy..."


	4. Chapter 3: This Is NOT Resident Evil, Da...

**__**

Chapter 3: This Is NOT Resident Evil, Dammit!

It was approaching sunset on the fourth day since Ryu had left Camlon. He had passed the ruins of Nanai on his second day, and was now well into the kingdom of the Wing Clan. Looking around for shelter, Ryu's eye picked up a cavern in the side of some nearby mountains. Walking towards it, he entered, then stopped as a pair of soldiers blocked his way. They were wearing standard millitary armor, but a pair of feathered wings rising from their backs proclaimed their Clan and kept them hovering in the air.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Just a traveler from the west." Ryu raised his hands. "I mean you no harm." The guards relaxed.

"Ah, good. The west, eh? You must be from Camlon. I'm Sir Avos, and this is my brother, Sir Valos. You are?"

"My name's Ryu... and I'm actually from the town of Drogen, south of Camlon." Ryu smiled. Valos frowned.

"Drogen? Never heard of it..."

"I have." Avos shook his head. "You don't look much like a backwoods fellow. What are you doing out here, Ryu?" Ryu hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust them.

"I'm here to see your King... King Firdan sent me. I'm fighting the Dark Dragons." He braced himself for laughter, but none came; the two guards were looking him over more carefully.

"Hm... yes, you've done some fighting in your time. It shows." Valos snapped his fingers. "Would you by any chance be the one responsible for what went down at Nanai a few days ago?"

"Does that show too?" Ryu asked ruefully. Avos laughed.

"Not at all... but they probably heard that town exploding all the way down in Arad, and your showing up is too much of a coincidence." He frowned, suddenly dead serious. "Does this mean you have... it?" Ryu nodded grimly.

"Yeah... I do. I wanted to give it to King Firdan, but he insisted I hold on to it."

"Smart move..." Valos grunted. "All right, you need to get to the capital pronto, kid. Luckily, it's nearby. Just head north around this mountain range, and you'll be there in less than an hour. You can make that, right?" Ryu nodded. "Good. Get going. The sooner you-and that thing-get into the city, the better."

"Right. Um..." Ryu hesitated. "What's in this cave, anyways?"

"Aura Cave here connects to the northlands." Avos explained. "Up there is the town of Romero... and, more importantly, the Towers of Karma. An evil necromancer, the Wizard Manson, lives up there. We're stationed in this cave to sound the alarm if he sends his zombies through." Ryu shuddered.

"Ugh... zombies? I can see why you'd want guards. Well, see you around, guys. Thanks for the directions." True enough, he entered the town of Winlan before the sun was down. Winlan was a mountain city, and the buildings were situated on several levels, leading upwards to the castle at the peak. Like Nanai, a single river ran down the west side of the city, through each level forming beautiful waterfalls. More than half the buildings had a windmill propeller added to the front of their second story as a sort of decoration, even including the highest tower of the castle. The Dragon Temple was near the entrance, and Ryu realized he hadn't prayed in quite some time. He immediately entered, not seeing the soldier watching him. Kneeling before the statue, he whispered the traditional ritual. About half an hour later, he turned to go, only to find the soldier standing in the entrance of the Temple.

"All right, buddy. Mind telling me who you are? It's customary to check in with us BEFORE you go wandering around..."

"Sorry, sir." Ryu apologized. "I've been getting behind on my prayers, and I completely forgot." He told the soldier the same story as he had to Avos and Valos. This guard, however, was more skeptical.

"King Firdan sent you, huh? Heh... I don't suppose you've got any proof of that?"

"Actually, I do." Reaching into his pack, Ryu took out the letter and handed it to the guard, who read it, eyes slowly widening. When he was done, he handed the letter back and saluted sharply.

"Apologies, Sir Ryu! I was unaware of who you were! Please accept my apology for suspecting you!"

"Uh... that's quite all right." Ryu muttered, wondering just what exactly Firdan had said in that letter. "If it's okay, I think I should be going to the castle before it gets any later..."

"Of course, sir! Follow me!" Saluting again, the guard turned, let his wings lift him up a foot or so and led the way up to the castle, with Ryu amusedly following. A nod from the soldier to the two standing near the front door was enough to get them entry. As he entered, Ryu realized that this was his frst time among such splendor. The castle in Camlon had been ancient and monster-infested, and he had entered the caverns before exploring the one in Nanai. Thus, the beautiful decor, carefully tiled floors and marble pillars were completely new to him. He also realized that his gawking probably made him look exactly like an unlettered country oaf, but he was unable to stop. Before he knew it, they were at the end of the hall, and the soldier escorting him was talking to another in low tones, who left a moment later. Ryu's guide turned back to him and saluted again. "Sir Ryu, the Queen will be along shortly."

"Ah... very well." Ryu nodded. "Um... the Queen? Is the King occupied?"

"I'm afraid he is not feeling well, young man." A voice behind him said. Turning, Ryu saw an older soldier in elaborate armor. His wings were a dark blue. Ryu realized the guide was saluting, and he promptly followed suit. The older soldier laughed. "No need for that, young man! I'm guessing you're the one who took care of that mess at Nanai. It's good to meet the man who struck such a blow against the Dark Dragons. I'm General Cornus, commander of the armies." He frowned. "We're fighting the Dark Dragons too, and the King turned down an offer to join them from Zog himself. There's no telling what that madman might do in retaliation, and things have been growing more hectic. The King needs a lot of rest these days." Ryu nodded.

"I understand. My sister was the same way; we had to force her to get some rest when things were really hectic, or she'd kill herself working. She was the Priestess of our village." General Cornus nodded back, hiding his surprise.

"I see... oh! Your highness!" He saluted, and again, Ryu followed the example even as he turned. Two ladies with golden circlets caught in their blonde hair were approaching. One appeared to be in her late fifties, but she still bore traces of what must have been a striking beauty, and she was clad in a regal white dress. The other seemed a year younger than Ryu, and though she was quite pretty, her face was twisted in annoyance and worry. She wore a much briefer pink leotard, and both of them had wings of the same color. The older lady, apparently, the queen, smiled at him.

"Young sir Ryu from Drogen?" Ryu nodded. "We are honored to recieve you here. You came to see my husband?" Another nod.

"The King cannot be disturbed. You will have to be on your way, I'm afraid." The young girl said shortly. The Queen turned to stare at her, then smiled apologetically at Ryu.

"My daughter, Princess Nina. Please, excuse us for a moment..." They flew a short distance away and engaged in a heated, though whispered conversation.

"Nina! That was unnecessarily rude!" Nina's mother chided.

"So? Would you have preferred we tell him the truth, that father is dreadfully ill?" Nina snapped back. Her mother frowned.

"Well, Firdan trusted him..."

"Ha!" Nina snorted. "Did you read the letter? A great and mighty warrior, indeed! Look at him. He probably doesn't even know which end of a sword to hold. If he's a Light Dragon who blew up Nanai, I'll eat my rapier."

"Even if that is so, we have to be diplomatic." Nina's mother pressed. "We can't show any signs of weakness, and that means being respectful to guests!"

"We can't let word get out that father's been... poisoned... either, mother!" Nina insisted. "If the people find out, it'll start a panic! His condition HAS to remain a secret! We must keep it quiet until we can get the remedy. If the people panic, we'll open the door to the Dark Dragons, and then everything will be lost!" Nina's mother slowly nodded.

"You're right... but the remedy still hasn't been found..." She fretted. "The only one who might know it is-"

"I know!" Nina interrupted. "But-" She stopped and looked at Ryu, who was peering at them with interest. "Enough. We can continue this later, mother. For now, our guest..." She rolled her eyes. "Is waiting." They walked back. The queen cleared her throat.

"Sir Ryu, I'm afraid the King is asleep right now, and even when he awakens, he will likely be busy for quite some time." Ryu raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "Until he is available, we extend the hospitality of the castle to you. You may have the guest room on the left, over there, as long as you need." She pointed, and Ryu nodded.

"Thank you, your highness. Um... is there some place where I might have something to eat?"

"I'm afraid dinner has already been served to us, Sir Ryu." Nina said sweetly. "However, I believe the soldiers are still eating their rations." Ryu smiled back.

"That will do just fine, your highness. I'll probably be more at ease among them anyways. If you'll excuse me, then..."

"I'll show you the way." General Cornus said, hiding a smile of his own beneath his mustache. "You can return to your post, soldier." The guard who had shown Ryu in nodded and left. Ryu waited until he and the General were safely away from the royalty before speaking again.

"Is she always like that? The princess, I mean?"

"Oh, not at all." Cornus assured him. "But recent events have had her strung very tight, and she seems particularly distrustful of strangers as of late, for some reason. She's normally a very nice and polite girl. Ah, here we are..." He opened the door to the mess hall and led the way through the crowd of curious soldiers to the head of a table, where Ryu took a seat next to him. A cook brought over a pair of plates. "I'm afraid it's nothing special... just some beef, beans and bread."

"The three Bs, eh?" Ryu joked. "No problem, sir. I'm not a picky eater, and it's sure to be better than roast monster. That's what I had on my first night after I left home." The soldiers around laughed.

"Is it true you wasted an entire Dark Dragon company by yourself?" One of them blurted out. Ryu nodded.

"Yeah, but it wasn't with my sword. Nanai was on unstable ground, as it turns out. The only soldier I really fought was their leader, a Knight named Terrack. Our scuffle in the caverns under the city was sufficiently noisy to disrupt the foundation, and I just barely made it out before the whole place exploded."

"Hey, a dead company's a dead company." Another soldier grinned. "The less for us to have to fight."

"That going on a lot here? Dark Dragons, I mean?" Ryu asked. Cornus frowned.

"It used to... but it's been slacking off recently. Something's up, and I don't like that..." Ryu didn't respond.

"They've been concentrating on the Forest Clan east of here lately, I think." A soldier reported. "They've had to flee their forest homes... went to a town called Tantar. They're still fighting, though, and the Dark Dragons are losing a lot of people in the area. That could explain why there aren't many around here..."

"He's got a point." Ryu nodded. Cornus sighed.

"I suppose. Blast it... the Dragon Clan are nothing but trouble..."

"Well, I don't know." A soldier disagreed. "I once heard a legend about a hero who could turn into a giant flying lizard... that's a dragon, right? They say he saved the world... pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah..." Ryu stood up. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll hit the hay. 'Night!"

"Goodnight then, Ryu." Cornus smiled cheerfully, but his eyes didn't leave Ryu until after the young man had closed the door.

"..." Nina looked out the window of her bedroom. The moon, approaching full, was rising high. "Just about midnight... everybody should be asleep by now." She slipped out of her bedroom, crossed the throne room, and entered her parents' room on the other side of it. Her mother was standing at the side of the bed, watching over her father. "How is he doing, mother?"

"Not good, Nina..." She whispered. "He's been going steadily downhill ever since he opened Zog's letter with the poison on it..."

"He should have known..." Nina shut her eyes tightly, but tears still leaked out. "That's one of Manson's favorite tricks, always has been!"

"She's right..." Both their eyes were drawn to the King as he coughed, a horrible, retching sound. "I should have known... it's my own foolishness that's done this to me..."

"No, it's not!" Nina's mother insisted. "You couldn't have known, you..."

"No..." The King shook his head weakly. "I failed you both... but you've... since my illness, you've done your duties well... made up for my mistakes... please, don't stop... keep our land safe even after I've..." He started coughing again repeatedly, and Nina's mother took his hand.

"Don't talk... just keep your strength up... we'll find that remedy, just hold on..." Neither of them noticed as Nina quietly slipped out. Returning to her room, she took a slim rapier from behind the door, then creeped down the stairs. The castle was dark and silent, so nobody noticed as she went into the kitchens and assembled a pack of rations, adding in a few healing herbs, then headed for the front door. As she passed by the bumpkin from the west's room, a sudden impulse struck her, and she quietly eased his door open. He was lying in his bed, snoring. Nina crept closer and examined him. He really wasn't too bad looking, and she realized she had never seen anybody with blue hair before. He was mumbling something in his sleep.

"Hey, Sara... don't do that, give me it back... come on, don't throw it up there..."

"Sara... somebody's name?" She frowned. "A girlfriend, probably... hmph." Shrugging, she left the room and then the castle. The rest of the city was as deserted as the castle had been, but Nina stuck to the shadows anyways. Before leaving, she made a point of saying a few prayers at the statue in the Dragon Temple. Something caught her eye as she turned to leave; it looked almost as if the statue winked at her, but when she turned back nothing was amiss. Once she was out of the city, Nina let out a deep sigh. "Well, I haven't been caught. That's good. I just hope I'm into Romero before they find my note tomorrow..." Unknowingly, it took her the same amount of time to reach the mountain tunnel as Ryu had taken to go the other way, an hour. "Now, I just have to sneak past the guards here and I'm home free..."

"Don't bother, your highness." Sir Avos said as he and Sir Valos walked out of the cave. "My brother and I saw you coming five minutes ago. What are you doing here?" Nina set her jaw firmly.

"I'm going to Karma."

"Well, we figured that much." Valos agreed. "The question is, why? Manson is out enemy, true, but why have you suddenly decided it's a personal affair?"

"It became personal the day my father was poisoned!" Nina blurted out before she could stop herself. Both soldiers' eyes went wide, and she continued quickly. "The Wizard Manson knows the antidote to the poison... he's the one who gave it to my father! I'll find him and-"

"And beat the antidote out of him?" Valos smiled. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy, your highness. That Wizard's not just a poisoner, he's got an army of zombies powered by his magic. How do you suppose you're going to get past them?" Nina smiled back and showed him her rapier.

"General Cornus himself has been training me ever since I was a little girl. Don't worry about that... I can take care of myself in a fight!" Avos shook his head.

"I suppose so... but you still can't go alone. We'll have to bring you back to Winlan, unless..."

"Unless?" Nina prompted.

"Unless we come with you." Valos said firmly. "By yourself, there's little chance of victory, but if we come along, the probability of getting that remedy increases a great deal. Either the three of us go there together, or we go back to Winlan together. It's that simple, your highness."

"...All right." Nina nodded after a moment. "You're right... but we need to hurry. Nobody back there knows I'm gone, so if we're not in Romero by tomorrow, we'll all be back in Winlan with a VERY unhappy queen."

"Point made." Avos nodded. "Let's get going, then." Taking up positions flanking her, they walked forward into the cavern. There was a great deal of moisture in the Aura Cave, and it collected into large masses that almost made the sections of dry land seem like islands. A roving flock of Beaks swooped out of the shadows at the top of the cave, and the soldiers covered Nina with their shields while jabbing out with their long spears at the enemies. Several were felled quickly, but one backed off for a headlong charge. Before either of the soldiers could react, they saw a flicker of motion between them, and the next thing they knew, Nina was hovering above the unlucky Beak. She skewered it with one strong thrust, then landed on the ground and shook it off her blade.

"I told you boys... I'm not helpless. I can handle myself in a fight-ACK!" She fell to the ground as a lightning bolt lashed her wings. An ethereal Gloom cackled and prepared another shot, but Avos was upon it, and the bolt went wild, smashing into the ceiling. Valos flew over to Nina.

"Are you all right, your majesty?"

"Fine... just fine." Nina struggled back into the air. "Just surprised me, is all." She flashed them a sheepish grin. "Guess I'm not as good as I thought I was after all..."

"Nonsense!" Avos said cheerfully as he flew back to them. "You took care of that Beak, didn't you? You just need to be more careful. Eh?" He frowned as he noticed a trickle of dust and pebbles above his head, then dived out of the way just before a heavy rock fell out of the tunnel ceiling where he had been. "Whew... looks like I need to look out more, too. That rock would have brained me."

"Hey, it's not a rock..." Nina frowned, examining it. "It's some kind of metal... iron?" Valos examined it as well, and whistled.

"Yeah, it's iron all right... grade-a iron ore! This lump here is Builder Clan quality!" Nina blinked. The Builder Clan in the south were notorious for their fine craftsmanship, partially because they only worked in the finest, purest materials.  
"Wow... any chance we could take it with us?" The soldiers exchanged a look.

"It'll be heavy..."

"I'll carry it, then." Nina offered. "It'll be no imposition on you two at all." They both sighed.

"Very well then, princess." Avos surrendered. "Pack it up and let's go. The night's getting later." They made it through the rest of the Aura Cave without much hassle, and emerged in the northlands just as dawn was starting to break. Nina stifled a yawn as they approached the village of Romero.

"So... we catch some sleep here, then head for Karma around sundown?"

"Not a good idea at all, princess." Valos shook his head. "Karma's going to be bad enough without it being night. We'll spend a good twenty-four hours here, then go towards Karma this time tomorrow."

"But... oh, all right." Nina agreed as they entered the town. For some reason, the entry street went right through the graveyard. Nina shuddered. "Creepy."

"Yes, I suppose so..." Avos agreed. He frowned at one old man who was stomping up and down on a grave. "And disrespectful. Hey, you! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to keep the zombies down!" The man yelled back. Nina flew over to him quickly.

"Zombies? What about zombies?"

"They've been rising every night ever since that damned Wizard came down here..." The man growled. "It was bad enough when he was just messing around in his towers with the ancient corpses, but now..." The three of them shared a glance.

"Why don't you come with us?" Nina suggested. "We'll have some drinks, and you can tell us the whole story." The man hesitated. "We're buying."

"Well... all right." The old fellow agreed, and showed them the way to the local tavern. Avos and Valos carefully looked over the menu and selected some relatively weak wine for Nina, and ale for the rest of them.

"All right... how long has the Wizard been causing trouble?" Valos asked after a few minutes. The old man frowned into his mug.

"Shoot, as long as I can remember. He used to just stick to himself... he experiments with the dead, you know. For years, his results weren't too pretty to look at; animated corpses was all, most of 'em not even having legs anymore. But then, about a year back, things changed... lot of strangers were hanging around Karma, and none of us liked the looks of them. Millitary-looking, almost. Their boss was a bald guy, and get this-he had blue skin! Wasn't dead or nothing either. Just wierd. Looked like some kind of scientest like the Wizard claims to be, but he was bossing around those soldier-looking guys." Avos frowned darkly.

"A bald scientest with blue skin, you say? Did he have a monocle-a thing like glasses, but only one eye-that was red?" The old man nodded.

"That's the fella, sure enough. Anyways, then about a month ago, the Wizard came down here at night while we were all asleep and poured some kind of chemical all over the graveyard. You can look at the ground there, it's still a funny color. Since then, every night all the dead folks there pull themselves outta the ground. The old, decayed ones, they went over to Karma. But the folks who've only been dead for a short time, they're still here. They come out and talk with us like nothing's wrong, like they're still alive, but you can tell..." He shuddered. "And then, just to top it all off, three of the girls in town vanished! Poof, just like that one night a few days back! Some of them are pretending they went by themselves, that they got bored with country life, but we all know what really happened. It's just no good business up here anymore, but nobody's brave enough to go up to Karma and give that Wizard what he deserves."

"Well, we should be going now... we've been walking all night." Nina smiled. "Oops, flying. But you know what I mean, and wings get tired just as much as feet do. Here..." She handed the serving wench a coin. "Get our friend another round of whatever he wants."

"Why thank you, missy." The old man grinned. "Go on up to the Inn near the front of the town, next to the Temple, and tell 'em Mergo sent you." Avos nodded.

"We will. Thank you as well for the information." The three of them flew down to the Inn. The innkeeper was a stout fellow, and he beamed at them as they entered, sipping from a mug of hot tea.

"Ah, welcome! Will you be needing rooms, by any chance?"

"Two, please." Nina nodded. "A man named Mergo recommended this place to us." The innkeeper smiled even brighter.

"Mergo, you say? All right, then. One room with two beds, and one with one?" She nodded. "Very well... that'll be sixty Zenny."  
"You're generous, noble innkeeper." Avos complimented him as Nina doled out the money.

"Any friend of Mergo's is a friend of mine, and you three look as if you deserve the best. Follow me, please." The innkeeper showed them to their rooms. "If you require anything, I'll be downstairs." He left.

"Well, this is great." Valos grumbled once he was out of earshot. "Manson's influence over the area is even greater than we thought... and we have proof that he's been collaborating with the Dark Dragons now too."

"Proof?" Nina frowned.

"That man Mergo described." Avos explained. "He matches the description of Cort, the Blue Alchemist... one of the Tiamat Unit, Zog's most trusted. And soldiers... there's no other explanation except the Dark Dragons."

"I see..." Nina sighed. "Well, even so, it's too late to turn back now. We've come here, and we're not leaving without the remedy. Let's rest up, then head for Karma once the sun rises tomorrow." The soldiers nodded, and all three retired to their beds.

"Aaah... morning." Manson, the Wizard of Karma, greeted the sunrise from the top of the west tower. "How I despise it." Manson was a tall, gaunt man dressed in pale green robes and a gold circle around his head that stopped just short of being a crown. His blue skin gave off the stench of rot, echoed by his face; lips, nose and eyes were all gone, making it obvious to anybody that he was no longer among the truly living, though his eye sockets burned with tiny red flames. "I suppose eternal darkness is the price I must pay for eternal life..." Ever since his death, Manson had been unable to stand the light of day, a side effect of his more advanced zombification potions. One would think that would make him active during the night, but Manson loved to sleep on the roof of his tower with the wind whistling through his hair. So he slept up there during the night, with the only light being from the moon, and he stayed inside the towers to work during the day, where the sun could not reach him. A bit of a complicated approach, but it worked just fine. Descending the staircase to the top floor of the tower, he bowed perfunctorily at the new Statue of Ladon installed there next to the Spring of Life, the waters of which were a valuable ingredient in his experiments. One of the conditions of his new alliance was that he resume worship of the Dragon God he had not partaken in for more than a century. Manson shrugged. It was a minor inconvenience for a much more major alliance. Descending another floor, he walked up to a barred cell. Inside, three young ladies slept fitfully.

"Ahem... good morning, ladies." They stirred at the sound of his voice, and one of them sat upright, eyes blazing.

"Manson. What do you want now?"

"Now that is quite rude, miss." The Wizard of Karma chided her. "I was simply wishing you a good morning."

"And how are we supposed to know anything about that?" Another one of them demanded. "We haven't seen the sun ever since you dragged us here!"

"Yes... most unfortunate..." Manson shook his head. "Sadly, it can't be helped. I see you have yet to touch your food and water."

"That's right." The third lady growled. "We know it's all filled with your foul potions, Manson. We won't touch it!" The Wizard slammed his fist against the wall suddenly, causing all three to jump.

"Foul potions! How dare you! We'll see how picky you are after a few more days. A week more of thirst and you'll be begging to help me!" He stalked off down to the bottom of the west tower, where his workshop was located. As he was about to begin work, however, a hovering spectre entered as well. Covered in a hood, it appeared skeletal underneath, and carried a large scythe.

"Master... visitors."

"Visitors?" Manson inquired sharply, turning to look at his servant. "What visitors? Where are they, Morte?"

"On top. The Dark Dragons and Blue Alchemist Cort..." Morte intoned. Manson frowned. He had heard something like huge, leathery wings a few seconds ago.

"Very well. Mortea!" He yelled, and another spectre much like the first joined them. "You and your brother go up and greet our guest. Show him down here." The twin spectres nodded and left, and Manson began leafing through his notes. A few minutes later, a new figure joined him, followed by the guards.

"Ah, there you are, Manson." Cort, the Blue Alchemist of the Dark Dragon empire, greeted the Wizard of Karma. "I was afraid for a moment I'd gotten the wrong place and ended up in Arad." Manson rolled his eyes; Arad was a small town in a desert in the southeast.

"Har. Har. Har." The Blue Alchemist was a tall, slim man dressed in robes much like Manson's, although his were sky blue. His skin was a much darker shade, like Manson's, although he did not have the same smell of death. Manson severely doubted the color was natural, but he didn't know what would cause it and didn't much care either. His head was as round and smooth as an egg, and he wore a monocle carved out of pure ruby over one eye. They shook hands firmly; each had enormous respect for the other in the field of science.

"How's that new formula of yours working out with the girls, old boy?" Cort inquired.

"Haven't been able to find out, I'm afraid." Manson said glumly. "They absolutely refuse to eat or drink anything."

"Have you tried having your assistants pin them and forcing them to take it?" Cort suggested, but the Wizard shook his head.

"No, I already know that agitating the body will screw up the potion... at least with humans. If I had a Wing Clanner, things would be different... but I don't. That option's not available."

"Shame." Cort sighed sympathetically. "Some people just have no scientific spirit. Listen, old boy, we've got ourselves a bit of a situation here. Emperor Zog is in quite the foul mood."

"What happened? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the cave?" Manson joked. Cort smirked.

"Cute. No, far worse, I'm afraid. We were on the verge of acquiring a second Goddess Key."

"Were?" Manson raised an eyebrow. The Blue Alchemist nodded.

"Yes, were. It was at Nanai to the southwest. I'm sure you know the place; bustling seaport, ancient palace, reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble, that one. Jade went off and left a Knight named Terrack there to finish up. A mistake, as it turned out. Terrack was a total incompetent, and he apparently blew everything to hell. The Goddess Key's under that rubble."

"Just great." Manson groaned. "I assume this will affect my funding?" Cort winked slyly.

"Actually, there's a fair chance you may be coming into a great deal of luck, old boy. Your zombies are very good at digging, right?"

"What, the early types?" Manson grunted. "Yes, that's about all they're good for..." The Wizard of Karma's voice trailed off. "So if I were to have them dig up that Goddess Key..."

"You could present it to Emperor Zog, and he would be VERY pleased with you." Cort finished. "At least double your current funding, and an official rank quite high up. How would you fancy being a General?"

"I'm not much good at commanding troops, I'm afraid." Manson admitted. "Zombies, you just point and grunt. Your Dark Dragon soldiers are a little more sophisticated than that."

"Actually, there might be even more." Cort's eyes narrowed. "You realize there are seven Goddess Keys, and only six of the positions have been filled." Manson's eye sockets seemed to somehow widen.

"You mean..."

"Just speculation, of course." The Blue Alchemist said quickly. "That choice would, of course, have to come down from Emperor Zog. But I think it's fair to say he would be VERY happy with you."

"You've given me something to think about, Cort." Manson admitted. "The only problem would be getting the zombies to Nanai, but if they all rushed the Aura Cave en masse..." Cort nodded.

"That could very well work, yes. I'll leave you to your planning then, old boy. Oh, here..." He dropped a large wallet on Manson's desk. "That's the current rate for the month. Let's hope it picks up, shall we?"

"Indeed. I'll see you later, my friend." The Magician of Karma politely waved as the Blue Alchemist left, then returned to his work.

"Are you ready to go, princess?" Sir Avos asked some time after midnight. Nina looked up from a book she was reading, surprised.

"What? But the sun hasn't risen yet."

"It'll take us an hour or two to get to the Ramui Woods around Karma." Valos informed her. "By the time we're there, the sun'll be up."

"All right, let's go." Nina nodded. The three of them left their rooms and walked down the stairs, where they were greeted by the sleepy inkeeper.

"Leaving at this time, friends?"

"Yes..." Nina nodded. "We've got some business elsewhere soon."

"But the zombies are out right now." The innkeeper objected.

"We'll chance it." Valos said firmly. "You run a very nice inn, friend. We'll recommend you to our friends... if we ever see any again. Let's go." Outside, several people were wandering around as if nothing was going on. The only thing that betrayed their nature was the pale greenish cast to their skin. Nina glanced into the graveyard and saw an old man and woman, the woman alive and the man not, standing together, holding hands.

"Perhaps not all uses of zombification are bad..."

"I wonder if she'll still feel that way about him once his face rots off." Avos commented. Nina glared at him.

"You're a horrible cynic, Sir Avos."

"No, he's a realist." Valos disagreed. "Most soldiers are. Optimistic soldiers tend to wind up dead early on. Let's try not to wind up the same way... dying at Karma is not my idea of a good time." Just as the soldiers had predicted, by the time they neared the Ramui Woods, the sun was rising. As they were about to enter, Nina looked over a lake to the north and gasped.

"What in the world?" In the middle of the lake, a slim white pier ran from the west side, deep in the forest. And above the end of it, a gigantic clump of earth... floated. On top of the land was a white palace. The whole thing was completely impossible, but it was still there, hovering in the sky in complete defiance of physical law.

"It's called Agua." Avos said quietly. "It's been there for centuries... maybe even millenia. Nobody knows what it's for, who built it, or even how it does that. It just... does. Rumor has it that the people of Romero know a way inside, but nobody really believes that; even we haven't been able to fly in. Some kind of force field. It's just... there."

"Wow..." Nina stared at the floating monolith.

"We should keep going, princess." Valos reminded her. Reluctantly, Nina tore her eyes away, and they entered the Ramui Woods.

"Are we going to find zombies in here?" She asked a bit nervously.

"Doubtful." Avos disagreed. "It's possible, I suppose, but reports say that Manson usually has them patrolling Karma itself. Don't let your guard down, though..." He turned and stabbed a huge spider. "These woods ARE crawling with poisonous bugs and spiders. One bite and you'll be seeing dancing pink Maniros."

"Speaking of which, look out!" Valos shoved his brother aside as a bug launched itself at him, then killed it. Nina shuddered.

"How long will we have to walk through here?"

"Only about an hour. It's not too far to Karma." Avos assured her. Once again, his assesment turned out to be correct. An hour later, Nina saw daylight shining through some trees up ahead.

"There! Karma's up ahead!"

"Look out, princess!" Avos yelled, charging and knocking her out of the way. The spider about to bite her fell on him instead. Nina angrily skewered it several times even as the knight crumpled.

"Sir Avos! Where were you bitten? Quick!"

"Back..." He groaned. Nina pulled a syringe out of her pack and injected it into the bite mark, then held her hands over it and mumbled a few words. Sparkles of light gathered around it, and the wound faded, as if it had never been there. Avos slowly got to his feet and smiled at her.

"You're gifted, princess. You never told us you were skilled in white magic."

"I pick up a few things now and then." She smiled modestly.

"And you carry antidotes to common poisons too. Not bad at all." Valos smiled as well. "You were better prepared for this than we thought, princess. Apologies for thinking less of you."

"Accepted." Nina flew ahead. "Now then, Karma's waiting for us!"

Another lake was situated between the Ramui woods and a mountain range to the south. From the east, as they exited the woods, a strip of land extended out into the water. At the end, in the precise center of the lake, two grey stone towers rose towards the sky. Unlike the floating palace of Aqua, the towers of Karma held no grace or beauty; they were a pair of tall, dull stumps that were vaguely rounded off near the top. Windows dotted them irregularly, and there were even great masses of algae here and there. The east tower was the only one with an entrance, but high above, a bridge could be seen connecting it to the taller west tower near the top.

"It looks like a pair of ossified stumps." Nina commented, causing the soliders to laugh for a moment. "Okay, enough joking. We all agree that we're not coming out of there without the remedy?" Both nodded. "All right. Let's go." Side by side, they walked into the east tower.

"Who's there?" A hollow voice yelled from the darkness. The three backed up as a floating, skeletal spectre in a blue robe floated out, holding a scythe. "Intruders? Nobody is here now! Go back home!"

"What about you?" Nina pointed out. "If nobody's home, what are you doing here?"

"I'm Morte, the door guard!" The spectre answered angrily. "Now leave before I add you to the stock for the master's experiments!"

"I don't suppose you'd let us through to see the Wizard?" Avos asked drily.

"I don't suppose you'd go jump in the lake if I asked you to?" Morte returned just as drily. Valos sighed sadly.

"That's a negotiations breakdown if I ever heard one... shame." Without warning, he lunged at Morte with his spear. The spectre howled with rage and brought his scythe down on the soldier's back, but Avos deflected it. Nina hovered out of its range and started chanting again. Red light covered Avos, and with a grin, he jerked his spear and sent Morte's scythe flying. Skull now covered in chagrin, Morte dived at his weapon, but recieved Valos' spear between his ribs instead. Amazingly, this did not kill him... instead, Morte fell to the ground, and to the shock of all three, began crying.

"I'm sorry... please don't hurt me any more..." He bawled. Suddenly, he grabbed at his scythe and prepared to hack Valos in half-even as Avos' spear smashed through his skull, and he fell apart, a useless pile of bones.

"That wasn't too hard." Nina observed.

"Don't get cocky, princess." Avos told her as he flew past Morte's remains. "That was just the first one. Still a lot of ground to cover." The two soldiers again took up positions on either side of Nina, and they went in. Straight ahead were a pair of Springs of Life on either side of steps leading to a basement. Avos glanced down them and averted his eyes. "Don't look, princess. It's not the kind of thing you'd want to see."

"What is it?" She frowned.

"Shall we say, raw material for his zombification experiments. Lots of them."

"Oh." Nina turned a little pale, but looked around anyways. "There's some steps leading up instead. Let's go!" They cautiously creeped up the staircase and looked around for zombies. There were none. "Looks clear, but be careful anyways." They continued slinking around the tower very slowly, being careful to look around every corner for the undead. There were none. The east tower was dark, dank and creepy, but deserted. When they reached the third floor and found no zombies there either, Nina began to get suspicious.

"No zombies at all here... but if they're not here, where CAN they be? It's not like they're heading down to Romero to pick up booze and girlfriends..."

"Actually, that could very well be it." Valos said seriously. "Remember, that old man said Manson's been kidnapping young women. Maybe the zombies are getting refills."

"Would Manson be with them?" Nina wondered. "If so, we could look through his laboratory for the remedy, take it, and be gone before he even knew we were here! Dad's recovery would seem nothing short of a miracle. I'll bet THAT would put a crimp in Zog's tail."

"It's a tempting possibility..." Valos smiled, then frowned. "Unfortunately, we're still not entirely alone here." He pointed ahead to the staircase leading to the fourth floor. Another spectre, identical to Morte, guarded it. Its eye sockets narrowed somehow as it saw them as well.

"Intruders? How did you get past my brother on the first floor?"

"Your brother? Is his name Morte?" Avos challenged. The spectre nodded.

"Yes, he was guarding the door. I'm Mortea, his sister. Now, what happened to him?"

"I'm afraid he came down with a bad case of dead, madame." Valos shook his head. "Those things happen in fights, regretfully."

"Then you shall join him!" Mortea snarled, raising her scythe and charging. Valos raised his spear, but she slipped past it and viciously slammed him into the floor. Bellowing, Avos sunk his own blade into her back, but Mortea turned around and slashed at him as well, forcing him to retreat. Poking at her, Avos lured Mortea away from Valos while Nina bent over him and used a healing spell.

"Are you all right, Sir Valos?" Valos nodded.

"Uh... fine now. Thanks, princess... huh?" She was casting a different spell now, and his spear had red light on it.

"It's the same spell I used on Avos with Morte... it'll increase your strength for a short time."

"All right then, time to skewer some ghoul!" Leaping into the air, Valos waited for an opening, then dived at Mortea. She spun around and tried to dodge, but too late; Valos' spear went straight into her skull. Even this, however, did not stop her. Seemingly fine, Mortea smashed him away, then turned to Avos. She did not notice Nina dart above her. She did, however, notice when the princess' rapier crunched into the back of her skull. Mortea tried to attack again, then collapsed into a pile of bones like her brother.

"Nifty little trick with our weapons there, your highness." Avos complimented her. "Think those two were the only housekeepers left behind?"

"Let's hope so." Nina sighed and led the way up the stairs. They emerged on the roof of the east tower. There was no visible way over to the west one. Nina blinked in consternation. "Now hold on! We saw it up here before! You can't just make a bridge disappear!" Angrily, she slammed her foot down on a protruding floortile, and as it sunk down with a click, the bridge extended out to the west tower as if by magic. All three stared, wide-eyed.

"A retracting freaking bridge..." Avos shook his head. "What will they think of next... Manson's a brain, all right."

"He's still our enemy." Nina reminded him. "Come on, let's get going before he comes back." They crossed over and entered an opening in the wall of the taller west tower.

"Hey! Who's there? Help!" A young woman's voice called from a barred cell. The three of them looked inside to see three ladies locked up. "You... you're not friends of the Wizard, are you?"

"Not even close." Nina smiled reassuringly. "Hold on. We'll have you out in just a moment." She fiddled with the lock for a few moments, then grunted and rammed her rapier through it.

"And they say princesses are supposed to be delicate and gentle creatures." Avos commented to his brother. Nina ignored that.

"Oh... thank you so much!" The ladies ran out. "You're from the Wing Clan? Are you here for the remedy of the poison he sent your king?"

"How did you know about that?" Valos asked, startled. One of the ladies smiled coldly.

"Manson told us a lot. We were better conversation than the zombies, I suppose, even if he was planning to use us as guinea pigs for his new formula."

"Speaking of zombies, I think he's taken them all to Romero, so you can slip out now." Valos told them. Another one of them shook her head.

"No, he hasn't... the zombies are going to the Aura Cave!" All three of the Wing Clanners were thunderstruck by this news.

"Is he... invading?" Nina whispered in horror. Again, the woman shook her head.

"No..." All three let out sighs of relief. "They're going to the ruins of Nanai. Apparently, there's a Goddess Key buried underneath it, and Manson wants to present it to Zog."

"Somebody's got their information wrong, then." Avos shook his head. "The Key's not under the ruins... the man who destroyed Nanai, Ryu, has it." Nina jumped almost ten feet in the air.

"Ryu! You mean that bumpkin at the palace?"

"Bumpkin?" Valos gave her a look. "Princess, that man's a warrior. I hope you weren't rude to him. Yes, that man took down a company of enemy soldiers single-handedly, and yes, he has the Earth Key." Nina bit her lip. "Well, we can sort all that out later. So the Wizard's gone, anyways?"

"No!" The third woman blurted. "He's just sleeping late! He's on the roof of this tower!" All three Wing Clanners froze.

"You'd better get out of here right away, then." Nina said grimly after a moment. "If he wakes up, you three will be in a LOT of trouble. Go! Go!" Like frightened rabbits, the three young women scurried across the bridge. Nina sighed. "Well, great. So, what do we do? Go up and fight, or try and ransack his lab before he comes to?"

"The lab, I think." Valos advised. "No use fighting his magic if we don't have to." Avos nodded in agreement.

"All right, the lab it is then." Nina led the way. While the west tower was taller, it was also narrower, and the way through was simple and uncomplicated. Before long, they emerged on the bottom floor. All three frowned; there was some kind of fog that made it hard to see. It smelled wierd, too, but there was no time to think about it; even as they stepped off the staircase, a howl of rage echoed through the tower.

"Crap!" Avos cursed. "He's awake, and he must have found the cell! So much for plan A... get ready, everybody!" The three of them took positions around the stairs, and a few moments later, Manson, the Wizard of Karma, entered.

"So you're the ones who let my specimens go..." He hissed.

"Got it in one, buddy." Valos growled. "Unlike some people, we frown on using intelligents as experiments." The Wizard didn't respond; he simply scrutinized them, and his eye sockets came alight.

"Ah... you are Wing Clanners! How timely a visit! Tell me, what brings you here?"

"We're here for the remedy of the poison you gave my father, slime!" Nina shouted. Manson's gaze focused on her.

"Your father, you say... so, you would be Princess Nina! Royalty... my, my. I pray you'll forgive me, but I wasn't really expecting you, so I haven't had time to... tidy up. I'm guessing you killed my guards?" She nodded. "What a bother. That formula was a pain to whip up; a deviation from my normal course. Now I'll have to bother digging it out and using it on two more. How annoying." Avos' eyes narrowed.

"If you don't give us the remedy we're looking for, you'll get a lot more than annoyance, buddy."

"I'm afraid that's not what we'll be doing at all." Manson disagreed. "You three lost me three specimens. It's only fair that you replace them... and it's fortuitous, since my newest formula should work much better on Wing Clanners that it does on humans." Suddenly, all three of them began choking; the fog around them was burning in their lungs! Manson walked forward, lipless mouth bared in an eternal grin. "I assume you're familiar with the gas of the xeon plant. It's my favorite smell, actually, and their juice is quite useful to me, so I keep a great many of them growing here. There's only one downside to the plant, and that is that it produces a gas that, while harmless to most creatures, is quite fatal when inhaled by birds. I'd always wondered if that included bird-mammal hybrids like yourself. It seems that it does indeed."

"You... you won't take us that easily!" Nina shouted. "Come on, guys... get him!" Struggling to their feet, the three of them charged, howling battle cries. The Wizard of Karma simply continued smiling and watched them approach. Their blades sunk into his flesh, and he didn't even flinch.

"I'm afraid that won't quite cut it with me... pardon the phrasing." Again, they slashed at him, and again it was completely ineffective, not even drawing blood. "Fools, look at yourselves. You can barely hold up your weapons, let alone use them! Give up now and spare yourselves the effort!"

"NEVER!" Screeching, Nina stabbed at his face, and with a sigh, Manson smashed her away with a mere slap like he was swatting a fly. The princess skidded across the floor before smashing into a wall and lying still.

"Hopefully you two will show more common sense..." The Wizard told the weakened soldiers. "You'll be in better shape without wear and tear..."

"Huh..." Avos stood still, then looked at his brother. "Looks like... this it then, bro."

"Should have known..." Valos smiled back wanly. "At least we got to go on... one last adventure."

"So we go down fighting? Never give up, death before dishonor?" Avos suggested. Valos shook his head.

"No... that's what he wants. Zombie experiments... remember? No... we have to... save the princess. Only one... you know who. Xeon gas affects... birds."

"I... see." Avos nodded after a moment. "You're... the faster flier. You go. Bro... tell them... I died doing my duty." And then, Sir Avos of Windia threw himself on the Wizard of Karma, not with his blade, but with his body. Yelling, he tackled his foe to the ground, and Valos ran for the stairs. Even as he moved, he knew that the xeon gas had already taken its effect on him, but he continued going, forcing all of his energy into his wings. There was a shimmering around his form, and then where the soldier had been, a huge bird with sky-blue feathers was instead. As he took off, forcing his already-stiffening wings to move, he heard a startlingly loud explosion, accompanied by a single scream that cut off suddenly and horribly, and he knew what had happened.

"Bro... I'll see you soon... but I have to tell him first... he's the only one who can save the princess now."

Outside the palace in Winlan, two guards were stationed. It was a bright, sunny, afternoon with nothing to do but stand there and look impressive. One of them frowned as he saw a dark shape in the sky.

"Hey, Tom... what's that?" The other one looked and scoffed.

"It's a bird, you idiot. Big one, though..."

"And there's something chasing it..." The first one narrowed his eyes. "Some kind of flying reptiles... four of them..." In sudden realization, he jumped to his feet, spitting oaths. "Shit! Those are Dark Dragons, and they're chasing a Wing Clanner! Tom, get some others in the air, NOW!" The second guard ran off, and the first one watched with bated breath as the bird in the sky grew closer. The Dark Dragons were catching up to him, but just as they were about to bring him down, there was a mighty screech, and four more huge birds engaged them, leaving the loner to plummet towards Winlan.

"What's going on here, soldier?" General Cornus demanded as he walked out. "Who is that?"

"No clue, sir..." They both jumped as the bird plowed into the street like a beached whale. It shimmered, and returned to the form of Sir Valos.

"Valos from the Aura Cave?" Cornus recognized him. "What the hell is going ON here?" It was then that he noticed the man's sickly look and dead-white complexion.

"Sir..." Valos wheezed out. "Pay attention, please... I don't think I'll have time to say it twice. My brother, me, and the Princess went to Karma..."

"Whatever for!" Cornus thundered.

"For the remedy... to the poison that the Wizard Manson gave our king!" Valos gritted out from between his teeth. "We almost had it... but the Wizard's lab was filled with... xeon plants..." Cornus whistled; he knew of the deadly plant. "We all inhaled too much... Avos is dead, and so am I... the princess, I don't know, but..."

"But we have to try." Cornus nodded. "Thank you, Sir Valos... I know who to go to. You may rest now... you've done all you can."

"Then... I am content." Valos released one last rasping sigh, and was still. Cornus bowed his head for a moment, then turned to the guard. "Get an attack party together! The best fighters in bird form! MOVE, man!" Thundering past him, Cornus kicked open the door to Ryu's room.

"General?" The young man turned, startled, from the desk he had been sitting at. "What's going on? Have you found the princess?"

"Oh, we've found her, all right..." Cornus growled. "Ryu, we need your help. She's been taken captive by the Wizard of Karma, an ally of the Dark Dragons!" Ryu's eyes widened.

"She went there to get the antidote for the poison?"

"How did you-" The General sputtered. Ryu just smiled.

"Sharp ears. Heard the queen and princess talking. What do you need me for? You guys are trained soldiers..."

"The Wizard's laboratory is filled with xeon plants." Cornus explained. "Their gas is fatal to all birds, including us. You're the only non-Windian who stands a chance of fighting him... you're a Light Dragon!" Now it was Ryu's turn to jump.

"How did you-"

"Sharp eyes." The General smiled briefly. "I saw the letter from King Firdan. But that's in the past. Ryu... you're the only one who can save our princess. Will you help us?"

"...Yes, I will." Ryu nodded. "I'll do it. Let's go."

"All right. The attack party's outside." Cornus led the way. Six humongous blue birds were perched there, each one as big as Ryu's house.

"What in the..."

"The power of the Great Bird. Every member of the Wing Clan can transform into one." Cornus explained. "Get on my back after I transform as well; no time to walk. To Karma at top speed, men!" Becoming the seventh bird, Cornus waited until Ryu was well seated, then took off. They flew over the mountains to the northwest at a fast clip. It was when they neared Romero that the attack came; four more huge purple flying reptiles were blocking the sky.

"Go! Go! Don't let them through!" One screeched, and the three others thundered forward. With an avian screech, the Great Birds streaked forward, two of them zeroing in on each dragon while Ryu and Cornus slipped past. The Dark Dragon leader was so intent on watching the fight that he didn't notice until they had already slipped past. Howling, he turned after them, but three of the Great Birds broke off their fights to swoop around and block him off.

The sun was just about finished rising as Cornus made a perfect landing on the roof of Karma's west tower, and the orange sky was turning blue. Ryu dismounted, and the bird shrunk to become the General again. "Whoo... not as young as I used to be. Let's go-I'll come along as far as I can before the gas kicks in!" With no time for subtlety, the two of them charged down the stairs screaming like banshees. Several lizard-like bipeds with shields and swords attempted to block their path, but they all fell to Ryu's sword and Cornus' spear.

"Zard Clanners... looks like Manson's been hiring himself some mercenary bodyguards." Ryu grunted as he hacked one's head off. "Or maybe the Dark Dragons brought them down to give him protection... didn't all his zombies go for Nanai last night?"

"Yeah." Cornus shrugged, impaling one and kicking him off within a few seconds. "Does it matter where he got them?"

"Not really." Ryu stopped in front of a staircase and sniffed. "That smell... is it?" Cornus took a whiff as well and nodded grimly.

"It is. Xeon gas. Manson's lab has to be down here."

"All right. Stay up here and keep any more of those newts from following me."

"You won't get any interference." Cornus promised. "Just take care of the Wizard."

"Count on it." Saluting, Ryu walked down the stairs. Purplish-grey mist was everywhere, and he coughed involuntarily, even though it wasn't really thick. Looking cloesly, he saw that there was a paved stone path running through a garden of peculiar purple vines that covered most of the room. "So these are xeon plants..." He walked along the path, made a couple right turns, and found himself facing the Wizard of Karma. Atop a rise in the floor, a collection of desks, shelves and laboratory tables was set, each covered with obscure notes, potions and devices. Lying on the table in the center was Princess Nina of Windia, and a man who could only be the Wizard Manson was standing in front of her. Behind them, the platform ended over a huge, bubbling pit of molten lava. Ryu slowly walked up, and the Wizard spoke without turning.

"The xeon plant is truly marvelous. No insect, mammal, fish, reptile or amphibian in the world is harmed in the least by any exposure to it, but with birds, simply breathing it is fatal. The juice of the plant will also eventually prove fatal; that is what I used on the King, after all. Keeping gas in an envelope is impossible, unfortunately, but in the long run, a pin smeared with the juice works just as well. A pity I won't be able to put his body to a better use, but I do have the princess..."

"She's dead, then?" Ryu demanded, a lump rising in his throat.

"Oh, no. Not yet." Manson assured him, still keeping his back turned. "My newest formula requires some preparation with the body before it expires, so I gave her some of the remedy for xeon exposure, which I discovered about ten years ago. It removed all effects of the gas from her and will keep her safe from them for roughly an hour, by which time I'll be ready to kill her. She's still conscious, I think, but very weak; I don't even need to bother to strap her down. She can't move a single feather."

"How convenient." Ryu smiled. "That means all I need to do is whup YOUR sorry ass and get her out of here before that hour's up."

"Easier said than done, I'm afraid." The Wizard laughed, starting to turn. "You must be very good to come here alone, but no matter how good you are, the gas will still-huh?" He stared-at least Ryu thought he did. It was hard to tell, since he only had empty eye sockets. "You're not a Wing Clanner! Human? No... blue hair... you're a Light Dragon!"

"Correct-a-mundo." Ryu advanced grimly. "And that means your gas doesn't do squat."

"I still have my magic, fool." The Wizard snarled, recovering from his surprise. "A Light Dragon... I don't believe I've ever tested on your kind before. You'll be the first."  
"I tend to doubt it." Ryu was about to attack, but stopped at a sudden thought. "Hey... if you're that confident... why don't we raise the stakes a little? You have more xeon remedy, right?"

"Yes, I do..." Manson nodded. "But you'll never find it on your own. Why should I tell you where it is?" Ryu smiled.

"Because if you do... I'll tell you where the Earth Key is. It's not in Nanai."

"What!" Manson stopped cold. "The... Earth Key?"

"Yeah. You're allied with the Dark Dragons, right? They really want that. Basically, you put up the remedy, I put up the Key, and the winner of our fight takes all. So, do we have a deal?"

"Hmm... very well." Manson crossed over to a desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a purple bottle. "This is the remedy to the xeon plant." Crossing over to Nina, he unstoppered the bottle and poured a single drop into her mouth. She immediately coughed, and some of the pallor went out of her skin. "Good enough?"

"Indeed." Ryu reached into his pocket and pulled out the Earth Key. "And this is my end of the deal." He concentrated on it, and all around them, the ground began shaking. He waited until a bookshelf fell over, making Manson wince, then stopped it. "Also good enough?"

"Very well." Manson put the bottle next to Nina, and Ryu put the Key there as well. The two of them walked out to the back of the lab, over the lava. "Winner takes all... begin!" Instantly, Manson fired a bolt of electricity from his hand. Ryu charged, taking the bolt head on and continuing to slash at Manson. The Wizard jumped back in surprise. "You're resilient!" He fired several more, but Ryu took them all in stride and continued to hack at the Wizard.

"Already seen that one." Ryu smirked as he gashed open the Wizard's side. "A Dark Dragon Knight by the name of Terrack used that exact same spell. I killed him."

"Terrack was the Knight who you took the Earth Key from, wasn't he?" Manson remembered. "So it wasn't his own incompetence... YOU were responsible for what happened at Nanai!"

"Got it in one." Ryu swung, but only cut the Wizard's robes. "And I'm going to do the exact same thing here rather easily, if that Thunderbolt spell is all you have."

"Oh, it's not, believe me!" Manson pointed at Ryu, and a puff of white gas flew out, smashing into Ryu and instantly covering him with ice. "Freeze, fool! Now then, how to finish you..."

"It's not... over yet!" Ryu gritted his teeth and forced himself forward again, ignoring the icy splinters that opened his skin as he shattered them. Manson's jaw fell open in astonishment as Ryu's sword plunged into his chest. "Got you!"

"Oh, really?" Manson suddenly brought his hand forward and smashed Ryu away.

"Hey, what gives?" The Light Dragon warrior yelled as he got back up. "How the hell do you survive... you're not even bleeding!" As a matter of fact, he now noticed that there was not a single speck of blood dotting Manson's robes, despite multiple wounds. The Wizard of Karma threw his head back and laughed.

"Pathetic idiot, zombies have no blood!"

"You zombified yourself?" Ryu gasped, suddenly realizing it. The skull-like face, the charnelhouse reek... it all fit. The Wizard of Karma was already dead as a doornail.

"It was a few decades ago, I believe..." Manson mused. "I was working one day when I felt my body start to give out. But I knew I couldn't die yet... my work was unfinished, and I had no students to pass it on to. In desperation, I took everything I knew about the zombification process and a lot I didn't and threw it all together before drinking it. When I came to, I was as I am now. I had done it... created the perfect zombie formula. This body will never wear out, never deteriorate any further. I shall remain for all eternity." He sighed bitterly. "And I didn't know how! In my dying delirium, I hadn't been able to remember what combination of unknown elements I had added to my desperate attempt. My work continues... and YOU will NOT disrupt it!" Grinning fearlessly, he moved his hands again and shimmered like water. Before Ryu's stunned eyes, four more Wizards, absolutely identical, took up places around the first. "Ha ha... what will you do know, Light Dragon?"

"The name's Ryu... and as for your question... the same as before!" Yelling, Ryu charged at the first one and slashed. His blade went right through it. "Ha! They're illusions!"

"True... but how do you know which one's real?" The Wizards all sneered. "You can only hurt one... but the converse isn't true!" All five extended their hands, and five clouds of ice flew into Ryu. He buckled, but again, smashed through the ice.

"Yeah, right... four of those are as illusionary as four of you are!" Turning left, he swung his sword through a second Wizard and kicked a third in the same swing. Both were illusions. "Down to two!" He charged at the remaing ones. All five fired thunderbolts, but Ryu jumped at the last moment, and they collided below him as he delivered a mighty overhand midair swing, turning himself into a whirling buzzsaw. The fourth Wizard stared up at him as he descended... then screamed as Ryu's sword spun through where his shoulder started and cleaved off his right arm and leg. The four illusions vanished, and there was a horrendous screech as the sword cut into the stone floor.

"Damn you..." Manson stumbled back, still not shedding a drop of blood, for he had none. "I was so close to perfecting my zombification process... so close..."

"Nobody's perfect." Ryu smiled and pulled on his sword. It didn't move. Grunting, he pulled again, harder. Again, it remained still. It was stuck in the stone, jammed there by the force of his slice. It took a moment for Manson to realize this.

"Ha... ha ha ha! Close, but no cigar, Ryu!" He raised his remaining hand. "You almost got me... but almost isn't good enough! Goodbye-URK!" His words cut off with a grunt, and Ryu looked up from his sword to see a rapier embedded in the Wizard's forehead. Both turned to see Princess Nina of Windia half-sitting on the table, smiling weakly.

"Shouldn't have given me... more remedy, Manson... shouldn't have left the bottle near me, either... and you REALLY should have... taken my sword away from me. So much for being... a genius scientest."

"No... way..." Croaking, Manson teetered backwards, on the edge of his laboratory above the lava. Nina snatched up the Earth Key and concentrated, and the earth shook. With a final, despairing wail, the Wizard of Karma fell off into the lava. Ryu groaned and walked over to her.

"So that drop he gave you as a demonstration was enough that you could move your hand... and you took more remedy. How are you?"

"I'll live." Her smile disappeared. "Ryu... thank you. And I'm sorry I doubted you... I thought you were-"

"A bumpkin?" Ryu took up the smile that she had discarded. "Forget it, princess. Important thing is, you're alive, the Wizard's dead, and there's enough remedy left for your father... isn't there?" She nodded. "Good. Can you fly?"

"I think so..." She tested her wings. "Yeah, I can... enough to get out of here, at least."

"Good. I'd offer to carry you, but I think there's somebody else." He walked down to the xeon garden and picked up the body of Sir Avos. Nina nodded, rubbing her eyes to hide the tears.

"Is Valos..."

"Dead as well. I'm sorry, but he inhaled too much gas... he was able to make it back to Winlan, though. If it hadn't been for him, I never would have known to come here in time. I'm sure General Cornus will have them given a decent burial back in Winlan."

"Yes..." Nina nodded and carefully put the remedy in her pocket. "I'm afraid our swords are both staying here..."

"We can get new ones in Winlan too, I think." Ryu shrugged. "Shall we go, then?" Nina nodded fervently, a small smile coming back on her face.

"Yes, please. For some reason, this place really smells bad to me. Odd, isn't it?"

Ryu broke out laughing.


	5. Chapter 4: If A Tree Falls On A Dark Dra...

**__**

Chapter 4: If A Tree Falls On A Dark Dragon In The Woods, Does Anyone Care?

"Is it working?" Ryu asked nervously as he stood over the bed of Nina's father, King Gwyn. They had given him the xeon remedy immediately upon arriving back in Winlan, and now were waiting to see the result... and nothing was happening. Nina turned to him with sorrow written on every line of her face.

"He's not changing... it's not working... were we too late? Ryu..."

"Nina, it's all right..." Her mother tried to comfort her. "You both did the best you could..."

"Uh..." All eyes darted to the King as he stirred and opened his eyes. "I'm... feeling a little better..." He sat up and coughed, then suddenly stretched his wings. "Actually, make that a lot better..." All three just watched, stunned, as he stood up and actually began bouncing up and down on the bed, fluttering his wings to catch more airtime. "I'm... alive! I live! Hahahahaha!" Nina's mother just smiled and watched, tears in her eyes, as her husband acted like he was a young child again. Nina just laughed, but her eyes were full as well as she turned to the Light Dragon.

"Ryu... thank you. You saved my father's life... and my own."

The next day, Ryu was summoned to the throne room. King Gwyn was sitting on the throne, looking completely recovered, with his wife and daughter at his sides.

"So, you're Ryu the Light Dragon..."

"Your majesty." Ryu bowed. Gwyn laughed heartily.

"Get up, young man. If anything, I should be going down on my knee before you. Your bravery saved my life... and that of my foolish daughter." He frowned, and Nina looked at her feet. "Were it not for you, we would both be in our graves now... me because of the poison, and her because of her rashness in going after the Wizard alone..."

"But father, I..." The princess tried to object, but he glared her down.

"No, Nina. You should have known better... you were extremely lucky. That useless strike against Manson of yours would have been a disaster had it not been for this warrior..." At that point, Ryu decided to ignore his better instincts.

"Your majesty, I'm sorry to contradict you, but her highness was not useless. Not at all." He smiled inwardly at the King's shocked expression. "To tell the truth, Nina was the one who actually made the kill on Manson. You said that both of you would be dead if it weren't for me, and you may be right... but honesty forces me to add that I would be joining you if it weren't for HER."

"I... well. Ahem." Gwyn coughed uncomfortably, making a point not to look at his daughter, who was now beaming. "Very well. At any rate... you came here to ask an audience of me, Ryu. What do you wish? Anything in my power to grant is yours."

"Knowledge about the lands to the east is all I need..." Ryu thought for a moment. "Well... that and a good sword. Me and her highness both lost ours..."

"The east?" Gwyn shook his head dismally. "I hope that does not mean you intend to travel there..."

"I do, your majesty." Ryu said firmly. "What I'm looking for is in the northeast. I'm not sure exactly what that is, but until I do, I'm going to keep traveling that way."

"Eh?" The King and everybody else in the room looked confused. "You don't know... what you're looking for?"

"That's right. The directions are very obscure, I'm afraid..." Digging through his pack, Ryu pulled out the piece of paper Sara had given him and handed it to the King. "Aside from this, northeast is all I know..."

"South of a silent guardian..." Gwyn frowned, as Nina read over his shoulder. "I don't know..."

"The Stone Robot, father!" Nina cried out suddenly. "That has to be it!"

"Stone Robot?" Now it was Ryu's turn to look confused as the King nodded unhappily.

"Yes... that's a silent guardian, all right... it looks like you are going east." Handing the paper back to Ryu, he steepled his hands. "East of here, Ryu, are the lands of the Forest Clan, and I'm afraid they're very dangerous right now."

"The Dark Dragons?" The hero guessed. Gwyn nodded again.

"Exactly. An entire legion has moved in to engage the Forest Clan. Anywhere that there's a lot of trees around should be considered a constant heavy war zone. But if you insist..." He sighed. "The Stone Robot is a huge... landmark, I guess would be the best way to put it... in the extreme northeast. You can't miss it... there's nothing like it in the entire world."

"I'll keep my eyes out." Ryu promised. Unnoticed by them both, Princess Nina's eyes had grown cunning.

"Father, this attack cannot go unpunished." She suddenly said, surprising all in the room again. "The Dark Dragons have all but declared total war on our Clan. We have to do something in retaliation!"

"Yes, Nina. I know." King Gwyn agreed distractedly. "We're going to send our own army into their territory as soon as Ryu here leaves-"

"That's not enough." She interrupted. "Father, this was a PERSONAL attack. It deserves a personal response." Ryu's eyes slowly began to grow wider as the King spluttered.

"You don't mean-"

"Yes. I want to go with Ryu." She nodded just as firmly as Ryu had a moment before. "I want to help him fight the Dark Dragons."

"Didn't that business at Karma teach you the folly of that thinking, girl?" Her father growled.  
"And didn't Ryu just say right now that it wasn't folly, that I was right?" She countered, smiling sweetly. By now, the Light Dragon warrior's face was looking slightly ill as he realized his mistake. King Gwyn was at a loss for words for a moment.

"...Well, yes, but... you... General Cornus!"

"Yes, my liege?" The General stepped forward and bowed.

"You've... you've overseen my daughter's combat training. What is your assessment of her abilities?" Cornus hesitated.

"Sir..."

"The truth, Cornus." The King ordered.

"Truthfully..." Cornus sighed. "She's the best rapier fighter in... this entire country, sir." This time, the assembled nobles were not silent; they gasped loudly as one. Ryu looked like he was going to bolt. "And... I believe she has also undergone training in White Magic to supplement that."

"I have, father." Nina nodded. King Gwyn choked for a moment longer, then gave in.

"...All right. The facts are clear. Ryu... in light of your recommendation of my daughter's abilities... I would ask that you accept her aid in your quest." Caught rather neatly by his own cleverness, Ryu had no choice.

"I... will, your majesty, and I am... thankful for her help." Nina squealed and shot forward to shake his hand.

"Thank you, Ryu! I'm honored to aid you!" Moving her head closer, she whispered so that only he could hear. "Should have kept your mouth shut."

"I'm going to get you for this." Ryu hissed back in a similar whisper. Then, simultaneously, they turned to face the King, smiles frozen on their faces. "With your permission, your majesty, we will leave tomorrow at first light."

"Of course." The King nodded. "I'll have the kitchen staff make up packs for both of you."

"And if you will both follow me to the armory, we can get you suitable weapons right now." General Cornus smiled at Ryu and Nina as he walked close enough to whisper as well. "Just remember... use them on the enemy, NOT on each other."

"No promises." Ryu muttered.

"Thanks again for inviting me along, Ryu." Nina said brightly as the two of them crossed the vast bridge coming out of the side of Winlan. Ryu just grunted sourly; walking across almost a mile of empty air with nothing supporting him but wooden planks was taking all of his attention. The Winlan Bridge was one of those architectural feats that always seemed to endure the changes in the world. The strait between the lands of the Wing Clan and those of the Forest Clan had been there as far back as history books existed. As the world had shifted, sometimes it had narrowed, sometimes widened, but the Wing Clan had always changed the great bridge to accomodate those changes. Sometimes it was built of stone, sometimes of wood; once, one history book claimed, there had even been a bridge of steel. Despite its composition and length, the Winlan Bridge would always exist in some form or another. Currently, it was about a mile long. When the two of them stepped off the other end of the bridge, Ryu released a huge sigh of relief before turning to glare at Nina frostily.

"All right, your highness, let's just make one thing clear. I don't want you along here, and I never did. Quite frankly, I think you're going to be a lot more trouble than you're worth. And if that offends you, well, that's just too bad; as you observed when we first met, I'm just a plain-spoken country boy. I say it how it is, and the first time you get a major wound, I'm having the closest royalty ship you right back home."

"Well, you're certainly direct. I'll give you points for that." Nina giggled, not offended in the least. "But you don't know much. I never would have been able to pull that off if you hadn't stuck up for me in front of my father earlier."

"A mistake." Ryu admitted. "I should have listened to my instincts and stayed quiet."

"Maybe." Nina cocked her head to the side. "Although I was surprised you went so far as to lie to my father about it."

"I didn't lie to him one bit." Ryu smiled a bit slyly. "I said you made the kill on Manson and that I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. That was true. The rest of the fight that was earlier, I didn't say a thing about... so how could I lie about it?"

"Point." Nina nodded approvingly. "Devious."

"The one who got me was General Cornus." Ryu's smile disappeared. "When he said you were the best rapier fighter in your clan... that has to violate some kind of oath."

"Now you're wrong." Nina shook her head. "Cornus told the absolute truth. Even if you're maintaining your opinion that I'm no good, keep in mind that almost the entire army uses SPEARS, not rapiers."

"Point to you that time." Ryu inclined his head. "Still... look out! Company!" A pair of what appeared to be humans were crawling along the ground, but their skin was purple, their bodies were rotting and terminated rather sharply at the waist leaving trailing guts, and they were moaning vacantly. "Are those... Manson's zombies? What the hell are they doing over here!"

"The Dark Dragons!" Nina growled. "Manson was in contact with one of their top men, who's also an accomplished scientist! After Manson's death, he must have found a way to take control of them and had his dragons move them over!"

"As if their regular soldiers weren't bad enough..." Growling, Ryu drew his new sword, a fairly long and broad sword made of good steel. He moved forward and slashed at the first zombie's chest, slicing it neatly in half, then changed his grip to stab it through the head. The second one, however, showing surprising speed, raked at his back with bony fingers. Before he could turn, however, the job was already done; Nina rammed her rapier right through its brain, and the monster collapsed instantly.

"Watch your back. That's the way zombies work; one will gladly die so the other can get a bite in on you. Aim for the head, as well; that's the only way to kill them."

"...Yeah." Ryu shook his head. "All right, clean your blade and let's go."

"Still think I'm useless?" Nina asked archly as she wiped her new sword on the grass. Ryu just harrumphed.

"Don't push your luck." As he started to walk, though, he staggered; his body had suddenly lost feeling, and was feeling strangely sluggish, like walking through molasses. Nina immediately flew over.

"Stay still. Don't move." Holding her hands over the wound caused by the zombie's claw, she recited a few words, and Ryu felt feeling returning. A few more words, and the wound closed completely. He stood up straight and shook himself like a wet dog.

"That did the trick. What WAS that?"

"Zombification." Nina said grimly. "You were still alive, so it only had a small effect, but if you had died, you'd be joining the corpse corps. One white magic spell to remove the spread of the disease, and another to heal minor wounds; best not to take chances."

"Thanks." Ryu grunted as he walked on. Nina just smiled, shook her head and followed him. After a few moments, he spoke up again. "Okay, maybe you're not entirely useless. Fine, I won't send you back to Winlan."

"Your confidence in me is too kind, sir Ryu."

"Just Ryu, please, your highness." He gave her a pained look.

"All right, as long as you knock off the highness bit." She countered. "If we're going to be travelling together, just get used to calling me Nina, okay?"

"Fine, Nina." He smiled again. "Anyways, since we're on a first-name basis now, can I ask you something kind of personal?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Personal? Depends on the question." The Light Dragon blinked.

"What do you mean, depends-oh." He blushed, and Nina laughed.

"I take it you haven't had much experience with girls?"

"Never even had a girlfriend." He shrugged. Nina started to say something, but stopped herself. "Anyways. Your clan can turn into Great Birds, right? So wouldn't it save a lot of time if you..."

"It's not that easy." Nina shook her head. "We can't turn into Great Birds until we turn eighteen. I'm a year off. Nobody's sure why, but it just never takes... until the eighteenth birthday, where it always suddenly kicks in. Then again, nobody really knows how we do it in the first place. The scientests have only been able to make some progress-we know it's in the bloodline, which means we have to marry strictly within our own Clan by law-and the Light Dragon priests are too afraid to ask God." She sighed. "Light Dragons are wierd, and Dark Dragons are jerks. I guess I just don't get along with the Clan..." She blinked, realizing what she was saying even as Ryu laughed. "Uh... present company excepted."

"That's all right." Ryu grinned. "I was firmly against becoming a priest when I was growing up, no matter what my family yelled at me about it."

"Overbearing family?" The princess asked wryly, and he nodded. "Me too. Always pressuring you about your responsibilities and your duties..."

"Trying to map out your entire life for you before you're even out of baby teeth..." Ryu continued.

"Never letting you have a moment to yourself to do what YOU want..."

"Unless you sneak off, and then they yell at you even more afterwards..."

"Royalty and religion suck." Nina finished.  
"Amen." Ryu rolled his eyes skyward, and they both laughed.

"Well... now I have a question." Nina admitted. "What exactly are you doing, anyways? I know you're fighting the Dark Dragons, but the specifics were kinda lost on me..."

"Specifics..." Ryu thought for a moment. "In a nutshell... I'm out to follow the Pilgrimage necessary for unlocking my Dragon powers, cause havoc to the Dark Dragon armies wherever I can, rescue my sister who's been captured by them, kill Emperor Zog, and stop them from collecting the Goddess Keys to release the evil Goddess, Myria."

"..." Nina fell out of the sky, staring at him. "Uh... huh. This is gonna take a while to explain, I take it."

"Oh, not too much longer than the rest of the day." Ryu deadpanned. As they walked east, he patiently told her all about the attack on Drogen and the incident with the Earth Key at Nanai. When he finished, the sun was starting to set, and Nina was floating along while looking at the Earth Key in her hand.

"A Goddess Key... it WAS all true. Every bit of it. Wow." She shook her head to clear it and handed the Key back to Ryu. "Well, now I know what you-we're doing. And you're sure your sister's with the Dark Dragons?"

"Positive." Ryu said firmly. "Nobody found her body, and the Dragons wouldn't be able to take her prisoner without a lot of work that they'd never use unless they had something really important in mind... which means she's probably being taken to Scande, their capital."

"THAT won't be easy to get her out of..." Nina sighed. "Scande's the most impossible stronghold in the world to attack. What's her name, anyways?"

"Sara."

"Oh, is that who Sara is?" She realized. "I was wondering..."

"Huh?" Ryu frowned. "What were you wondering?"

"Uh... nothing." She said hastily.

"Oh, no." The Light Dragon pressed. "Talk, missy. Where did you hear about Sara?"

"I..." She blushed furiously. "I heard you talking in your sleep on your first night in Winlan." Ryu smirked.

"I see." Thankfully for the princess, he refrained from commenting further, instead looking around. "About time to set up camp. Now that there's two of us and we're heading into more dangerous territory, we should take turns keeping watch. I'll go first."

"Works for me." Nina agreed. They unrolled their sleeping bags.

"So, how far away is this Stone Robot?" Ryu inquired as they had dinner. Nina thought for a moment.

"It's a week's walking distance from Winlan... so six more days."

"Right." Ryu frowned at a thought. "Are we going to have to go through any forests?" Nina shook her head.

"Nope. They're all more to the south... as long as we stay along the north coast, it'll be fine."

"Good. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to avoid the warzones if at all possible."

"I can relate to that." Nina yawned. "Well, I'm hitting it. Wake me when it's time for my watch."

"Got another one." Bo grunted as he shot an arrow off. A moment later, the shaft buried itself in the throat of a Dark Dragon army soldier, and he collapsed with a gurgling sigh. Bo turned around and saw two Forest Clanners like himself. "Been wondering when you two would show up. How's it going?"

"Sir! Second group reports eighteen enemy soldiers killed! One wounded, Macdougal, no deaths!"

"All right... and the report from the third group?" Bo asked. The other Forest Clanner saluted sharply.

"Sir! Thirteen soldiers killed so far today, no injuries or deaths!"  
"Good." Bo nodded. "First group's had twenty killed; no injuries or deaths here either. Keep it up." The Forest Clan were bipedal canines, with golden fur but features more akin to wolves than dogs, and Bo was a particularly dangerous-looking example of his species. Tall and muscular, his eyes held an almost rabid glint when he was in battle. As he watched the reporters from the other two groups leave, a noise in the bushes made his ears perk up. "Everybody, hide! Now! Sounds like a big group." The group of Forest Clanners with Bo disappeared into the bushes and treetops of the forest, their green garb blending in perfectly. There was not one sign of a single Forest Clanner as a squad of Dark Dragon soldiers marched into the clearing.

"All right, set up camp here." The squad leader grunted. "And no slacking; get it done first, then prepare to stand at attention. HE's going to be coming through here." Grumbling, the soldiers began following his orders. They never finished. A rain of arrows covered them from all sides, converting each and every soldier into a pincushion. The Forest Clanners came back out and quickly pulled the corpses into the brush, hiding them from view. Bo frowned.

"Who's this HE? Some important Dark Dragon, sounds like... men, it looks as if we may just have struck pay dirt. Get back into the trees and let's wait. I'll hit their boss myself when he comes through here... the moment he's skewered, take out the rest." The Forest Clanners nodded silently and climbed back into hiding. Bo selected a large tree with many branches for his own vantage point. A few moments later, there was a rustling in the bushes again, this time much larger. The soldiers that came through were larger as well; there looked to be about a hundred. Bo frowned; there was no way his men could kill that soldiers many very quickly.

"Terry, go find the second and third parties." He whispered to a young Forest Clanner hidden beneath his tree. "Tell them that every one of us in the woods needs to get over here and prepare for an all-out attack. If this is just the personal advance escort, this guy HAS to be way up there in the ranks." Terry nodded and slipped off, and Bo returned his attention to the Dark Dragons. It looked as if the leader was about to come in, and a moment later, two figures did in fact join the soldiers. One of them was a Knight, and the other a very short figure shrouded in a purple hooded coat. The Knight's fawning manner showed that he was obviously the subordinate of the two.

"I'm sorry... I don't know where they are... those men should have been here long ago!" He babbled obsequiously. "Please forgive me, Dreammaster!" Bo hissed with surprise as he sharply drew in a breath.

"Dreammaster... Red Dreammaster Mote!" Mote, the Red Dreammaster, was a member of the Tiamat renowned for his cruelty, said to be able to warp his victims' minds beyond rationality.

"What was that?" The Dreammaster looked up towards the tree, and Bo immediately fell silent. Mote scrutinized it for a few more moments, then shrugged and turned away, speaking again in a strangely high, piping voice. "The men aren't present. That remains the fact, no matter what you think they SHOULD be doing. The woods are not being properly patrolled. I'm afraid I'm have to bring this up with General Folage when we arrive at the fortress." The Knight paled noticably.

"Please, Dreammaster. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation. I'll have these men here turn out and search-"

"Your excuses are starting to irritate me, Knight." Mote interrupted. "I don't particularly care about your soldiers, really, but the rules ARE the rules. More importantly to me is how you're pissing me off. I think it's time you just stopped talking, so if you don't keep your mouth shut from now on and speak only when spoken to... I will plunge your mind into a nightmare of being slowly burned alive that will last for the rest of your life. Do you understand me?" The Knight nodded quickly and silently. "Good. Now, let's proceed to the fortress." Bo noticed traces of movement in the leaves and realized the other Forest Clanners were in position. As Mote was about to leave the clearing, Bo fired. Five arrows blasted through the air in less than a second, each one of them striking into the hood of the Red Dreammaster. Before any of the other soldiers could react, arrows poured out of the sky like rain once again, burying them all.

"We did it! We killed one of the Tiamat Unit!" The Forest Clanners cheered.

"No... wait!" Bo watched as Mote began to fall over... then shimmered and vanished, along with all of the other soldiers. "Run for it! It's a trap!" As the startled Forest Clanners turned around, triumphant howls erupted from beyond the clearing as the Dark Dragons, alerted to the positions of their enemies, fired their own storm of arrows-not nearly as good as the Forest Clanners, but deadly still. Bo cursed loudly as he watched several of his men fall. "An illusion! The whole damn thing was an illusion! They suspected we'd be here! Fall back, everybody! Out of the woods! Now!" Terry screamed as an arrow pierced his shoulder. Bo dropped out of the tree and helped him up. "Come on! Move!" Helping the wounded warrior, he joined the rest of the Forest Clanners in their retreat as the Dark Dragons gave chase.

"Catch them! Kill them! Don't let a single one of those mongrel dogs escape here alive!" Mote's voice rang shrilly through the treetops. The Dark Dragon soldiers enthusiastically attempted to do just that, but the Forest Clan knew the terrain backwards and forwards a thousand times better than their foes, and they soon outdistanced the Dark Dragons. Even then, they didn't stop until they had reached the edge of the woods.

"Well, that could have gone better." Bo muttered as he laid Terry down on his back. "You okay, Ter?"

"Been better, boss." Terry tried to smile, but it turned into a wince. "I'm gonna be out of it... for a while, I'm afraid..."

"It's all right. Just relax." Bo stood up. "How many others got hurt?"

"Six dead and twice that many wounded." Another Forest Clanner reported sadly. Bo cursed again.

"Shit. No choice... we're going to have to abort the whole thing for now and head back to Tuntar. We can come back once all the wounded are taken care of." His eyes glinted as he smiled at Terry. "And we'll make them pay for every bit of that nasty little trick, I promise you."

"Whoa..." Ryu stopped in his tracks and stared at the horizon. "Is that... what I think it is?"

"Most likely." Nina nodded smugly. "Dad told you that you wouldn't be able to miss it. That's the Stone Robot." Towering hundreds of feet tall, a structure made of yellow bricks could be dimly seen far away. It was shaped like a human, and if one looked closely the head was adorned with a single huge glass blue eye. "And it's still a day's walk away. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Ryu shook his head to clear it. "Wow. Has it ever moved or anything?"

"Moved..." Nina thought. "Rumors say it did once, back in the days of the Dragon War... but aside from that, nothing in centuries."

"Well, I don't know anything that could trump that as a 'silent guardian.'" Ryu pulled out the piece of paper with the directions. "I don't think we really need to go all the way there. Now that we know where the 'silent guardian' is, we can just move on to the next step."

"Let me see." Nina looked over his shoulder. "South of the Robot... a snake of blue? That has to be the Despair River! It flows out of the lake in the middle of the Forest of Despair, where the Forest Clan used to live before the Dark Dragons came. The River goes south down the entire territory of the Forest Clan, then turns east and forms part of the southern border as it runs into the sea!"

"So we need to go south of the Forest Clan lands to find it." Ryu nodded. "Great! Thanks, Nina. So how far away is it?"

"Well, we're still north of the forest, but we're near the east side... if we go around it, we should reach the towns of Tantar and Tuntar in a week or so. The border's only a day or two from there."

"All right, let's go." Ryu thought for a moment as they walked. "Tantar AND Tuntar? Why two seperate ones?"

"Tuntar's been there for ages... it's an old town." Nina explained. "Back in the Dragon War, it was a big city of the Forest Clan with the Despair River running right through it, seperating it into east and west sides with a bridge connecting them. After the War ended, the Forest Clan took up living in the Forest of Despair and the city was abandoned. A few generations back, some humans were allowed to move in. They restored only the east half of it, though; didn't need any more. When the Forest Clan were driven out of their home by the Dark Dragons, they went to the west half of the old city and called it Tantar to differentiate it. Now instead of one city, there's two towns, one for the humans and one for the Forest Clan." Ryu nodded.

"And they both fight the Dark Dragons?"

"Afraid not..." The princess shook her head. "The Forest Clan do, but the humans in Tuntar are as meek as sheep. They offer no resistance whatsoever."

"Bah..." Ryu's face darkened. "Idiots. Don't they know what the Dark Dragons are doing? They're just making it easier for them..."

"Keep your prejudices under control, Ryu." Nina warned. "Put the difference in attitude towards the Dragons together with that they're going to efforts to keep the towns seperate, and we can guess that relationships are pretty strained between them. We DON'T want to start anything."

"Right, right..." Ryu sighed. A week later, they moved into Tuntar. As they entered the town, they noticed that something was very, very wrong. The river was completely dried up.

"Not good..." Nina muttered. "Not good at all. Hey, you!" She called to a man who was loitering near the entrance of the town. "What's going on with the river?" He scowled.

"The Dark Dragons, that's what." He spat. "They dammed up the entire river up north where it comes out of the lake. I don't know how the hell they managed it, but the boulders lying in the way are too huge for any of us to do a thing about."

"Let me guess." Ryu growled. "They say they'll unblock the river if the entire land surrenders to them."

"You got it." The man nodded. "They're a group of right bastards, yeah, but there's not much we can do. Try telling THAT to the Forest Clan, though..." Muttering to himself, he stomped off. Nina watched after him for a moment.

"Suddenly, the reason for the species animosity becomes clear."

"Yeah." Ryu sighed. "So, which chief should we talk to?"

"Well, technically, the chief of Tuntar is supposed to be subordinate to the Forest Clan's chief... they don't use the title King, but he had the same authority here as my father does back home."

"Had?" Ryu raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yeah. With what's been happening here lately, I doubt that authority continues as much." Nina shook her head. "To hazard a guess, the two chiefs are probably equal in power now. We should probably see them both... the human chief first since we're in Tuntar, then cross over to Tantar to see the Forest Clan chief."

"All right." Ryu looked around the town and quickly spotted the largest house. "He should be there. That just leaves the question of how we're going to get in..."

"Leave that to me." Nina smiled and hovered over towards the house. Ryu just shrugged and followed. A pair of guards were standing outside the chief's house. Nina smiled friendlily and landed in front of them. "Excuse me, good sirs, but we need to speak with your chief."

"And you are-?" One guard prompted. Nina smiled and handed him a piece of paper. He read it dubiously, then jumped and showed it to his partner.

"Um... we'll have to get this authenticated by the chief, miss."

"Of couse." Nina nodded. "We'll wait here." The guards went inside, and Ryu stared.

"Okay, give. How'd you do that?"

"That paper was a written letter from Princess Nina of Winlan, asking that the Chief grant an audience to her emissaries. Notice it doesn't specify WHICH Chief. I've also got ones for the King, for the Grand High Merchant, for the Guildmaster... basically, for the rulers of every land in the world. Well, almost... I don't think we'd have much success requesting a personal audience with Emperor Zog. But aside from that..." She shrugged, and Ryu whistled.

"Pretty slick, Nina."

"See, I'm being very useful already." Nina smirked. Ryu chose not to dignify THAT with a response. A few moments later, the guards returned and wordlessly showed them inside. The inside of the chief's house was rather plain and unornate. The only thing setting it apart from a normal residence was the large chair, almost a throne, in the middle of a large room at the center. A wizened old man sat on it, his beard reaching almost to his waist.

"Ah... emissaries from Winlan." He looked at them more closely, and frowned. "So, what are you here for?"

"We'd like to know what you can tell us about the river, your... grace." Nina said, fumbling with the correct mode of address for a moment. The Chief's frown deepened.

"Look for yourself! It's bone dry, all the way! We have to go all the way up north to get any water, and the Dark Dragons assume anybody from here is hostile!" He shook his head angrily. "We'd leave if we could, but they destroyed the only bridge south of here that crosses the river!" Ryu and Nina's faces fell, but the Chief continued his ranting. "If the Forest Clan would just surrender their Ring, then the Dark Dragons would unblock the river, but noooo..."

"Um..." Ryu blinked. "Couldn't you just go to the Tantar side of the river, then go south? The river only turns east..."

"Do you know what a mountain is, you young idiot?" The Chief fixed him with a withering glare. "If so, maybe you'll understand when I tell you there's an entire range of them south of Tantar and west of the river!"

"I... see." Ryu nodded. The Chief just waved a hand in disgust.

"Take these fools out of my sight!" The guards nodded, and Nina smiled frigidly.

"Very well, sir. No need to escort us, we were leaving anyways. The air has turned a trifle rancid in here." And with that, she and Ryu turned and exited the building. Once they were outside, the princess dropped the smile. "Well, that was a complete waste of our time..."

"Wait..." They turned as a young lady slipped out of the door behind them. "Please don't be too hard on my grandfather, miss..."

"Nina." The Princess smiled. "You're the Cheif's granddaughter, then?"

"Yes..." She shook her head. "He's not normally like this... it's just that the times have been really hard on him. Ever since the river dried up, he's been acting strange..." Now she seemed on the verge of tears. "He won't even let me go over to Tantar to see my fiancee..."

"You're engaged to marry a Forest Clanner?" Ryu blinked. She nodded.

"Yes... but I know that he's been going out to fight the Dark Dragons. And since I can't go over to Tantar, there's no way for me to know if he's hurt, or..."

"We're going to Tantar right now." Nina told her. "If you can give us his name, we can find out for you..."

"You... thank you..." The Chief's daughter bowed her head. "His name is Terry... he's the grandson of their Chief. If you can... tell him Amelia sent you." Ryu nodded, and he and Nina left, heading towards the bridge. As they crossed over to Tantar, several of the people there turned their heads to look at them.  
"Been a while since ANYBODY crossed that bridge..." One young Forest Clanner said by way of greeting as he walked up. Like all Forest Clanners, he was canine, completely furred all over with a wolflike head, although he did not have a tail. "And you... miss, you're a Wing Clanner. I take it you two aren't from around here."

"Nope, we come from the west." Ryu smiled. "People over in Tuntar seem kind of unfriendly."

"Well, we're not exactly kindly disposed towards them either, but to other people, we're happy to see 'em." He shook Ryu's hand. "So, what brings you here? I doubt it's the Dark Dragon invasion..."

"Actually, that's exactly what it is." Nina showed him the same letter as she had the guards back in Tuntar, and it had a similar effect.

"Oh... okay, I'll run it past him... this way." He led them to a house just as large as the Tuntar Chief's residence, but unlike there, they were brought inside right away. Also like in Tuntar, the house was normal-looking inside save for an old Forest Clanner, his fur iron-grey, sitting on a large chair. He raised an eyebrow as he read the letter, then laughed.

"Emissary? Please, Princess! Did you think I wouldn't recognize you?"

"It has been ten years, your grace." Nina smiled winsomely.

"Nonsense! And just call me Lupin. We don't need to stand on ceremony here. Who's your friend?"

"This is..." Nina hesitated and looked at Ryu, who nodded. "...Ryu. He's a warrior from Drogen... a Light Dragon."

"Drogen?" Lupin blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Would you by any chance know a Light Dragon about my age named Theo?" Now Ryu was surprised.

"You know my grandfather?"

"Ah, you're his grandson, then!" Lupin nodded. "Yes, me and Theo met when we were young. How are he and Esma, then?" Ryu's face darkened.

"Not well, I'm afraid. The Dark Dragons attacked Drogen and burned it-"

"WHAT?" The Chief came to his feet instantly, swearing like a pirate.

"I feel the same way." Ryu agreed. "So I'm on the same pilgrimage as my grandfather went on all those years ago, except UNlike my grandfather, I have some very definite ideas about what I'm going to do when I'm done involving Emperor Zog. Right now, we need to get south."

"I see..." Lupin sank back into his chair, evidently finished exercising his vocabulary. "Well, I'm sorry, but that's not likely to happen. The bridge is out, and with the river dry, you can't even swim across. Don't even think about climbling the sides; they're far too steep."

"Yes, the Chief of Tuntar told us much the same." Nina shrugged. "Albeit in much more unfriendly terms. The question is, what to do about it?"

"Bart has been acting very strange lately..." Lupin thought about it. "Well... the bridge can't be rebuilt until the Dark Dragons have been chased out. If we tried, they'd just destroy it again."

"All right then." Ryu nodded. "We'll go help with the effort. Speaking of which, how's that going?"

"We've got the home advantage, they've got numbers." Lupin shrugged. "We're picking 'em off by the cartload, but more just spring up in their place. I'm afraid unless we take down some kind of commander, things will turn nasty... and the last time we tried that, it turned very bad on us. My own grandson, Terry, was injured..."

"Terry?" Nina's eyes grew wide. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Well, yes..." Lupin nodded. "He'll be fine with time... but you've never met him. Why is that such a thing?"

"We met Amelia over in Tuntar." Ryu explained. "She asked us to check on him... Chief Bart won't let her come over to Tantar."

"We were guessing as much..." Lupin growled, then sighed. "Well, he's sleeping right now, but I'll tell him. Anyways, back to the subject... I take it you two are both experienced fighters?"

"I've got an entire Dark Dragon company and one of their Knights on my kill list; Nina's got the Magician of Karma on hers." Ryu smiled, then frowned. "Have there been a lot of zombies around here over the past few days?"

"Yes, actually." The Chief raised an eyebrow. "I've heard of the Magician of Karma... let me guess. He had contact with the Dark Dragons, and after Nina offed him, his zombies became theirs."

"That's as far as we figure it." Ryu shrugged. "Well, we chased the Dark Dragons out of my home lands and those of the Wing Clan, and we can help do the same here." Lupin nodded.

"I don't doubt that... there's only one problem. The Forest of Despair is no ordinary wood... there are trees EVERYwhere there. If you had one of our best archers with you, that would be different, but..." He thought a moment. "Here's an idea. We have a member of the Builder Clan, Dorban, living here. He's old and grumpy, but there's a chance he'd agree to make a saw for you that you could use to help clear your way through the forest. It's worth a shot, at least. Either way, once you get there, find one of our archers and have them take you to Bo. He's the best archer, and leading our side of the war in the field." Ryu smiled and nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, your... Lupin. We'll go talk to Dorban, and we'll head up north as soon as he's got that saw ready, if he'll make it." Lupin smiled as well.

"He lives in a grey building near the south part of town. You'll be able to tell which one by the smoke coming out of the chimney from his forge. I hope I'll see you later, my young friends."

"Nice fella." Ryu told Nina as they left. "You've met him before?"

"I had forgotten..." She thought back. "Nine years ago. He and my father met, along with a lot of the other rulers, like Firdan in the west... they were discussing forming some kind of alliance against Zog, who was just starting to show signs of his ambitions. As I recall, Lupin, Khel of Bleak and Gartes of Prima were particularly for it, but it never worked out... shame."

"Yeah..." Ryu shook his head. "Well, that's in the past now. Look, there's smoke... that has to be Dorban's house it's coming from." Approaching the residence in question, he knocked politely.

"Come in." A rusty-sounding voice grunted. Ryu shrugged and did so. The house was more of a workshop; most of the space was taken up by the anvil, firepit and tub that were essential parts of a smith's work. A suit of armor was on display in the back next to a stove and a bed, and racks of weapons, mostly arrows, lined the walls. Hammering on the anvil was a gruff-looking old member of the huge, bovine Builder Clan. His mane and beard were as iron grey as Bart's fur, but the muscles on his arms were still as wide as Ryu's legs, and he was using a sledgehammer as if it weighed nothing on a glowing red sword. "Well, don't just stand there. What do you want? You're not from around here."

"We... hoped we could have you build something for us. A saw." Ryu asked hesitantly. Dorban grunted and threw the sword he was working on into his tub, raising clouds of steam.

"Impossible."

"Huh?"

"You heard me." Sighing, he leaned his hammer against a wall. "Weapons, I can make. Don't LIKE making them, but it's not exactly an option here right now. So I make them. But good tools, things that people actually will use for honest work... no. Not with what I've got here. These weapons are just made of hack-rate iron; I don't mind, because I don't like them anyways. But I'll bash my own head in with this hammer before I make ANY good tools out of junk iron. It's a matter of pride."

"Junk iron, eh?" Nina fished through her pack and took out the lump of iron ore she had accidentally dislodged in the Aura Cave. "What about this?" Dorban snorted.

"Probably crap. I'll take a look, though..." Grabbing it, he examined it, carelessly at first, then more excitedly. Several minutes later, he looked back at them with an entirely different attitude plain on his face. "Little lady, where did you get this?"

"The Aura Cave in Winlan." She smiled. "So, is it any good?"

"Missy, I haven't seen iron ore this quality in years." Dorban placed it on his anvil and fetched his hammer. "A saw, you say? All right, then! For this quality ore, I'll make you a saw that could cut down the entire forest! Now get out of my hair so I can work, okay? Come back here this time tomorrow." Ryu grinned.

"We'll do that, then. Glad to be of service."

"General Folage." All the soldiers in the command room of the fortress bowed as their commander entered the room. Folage just shrugged as he walked over to his chair and sat down.

"Enough with the pleasantries. Give me the reports. How many of our men have we lost to the Forest Clan TODAY?"

"Uh... seventeen so far, my lord." One soldier checked a piece of paper. Folage nodded, unfazed.

"All right, and how many of theirs have we taken down?" Another soldier checked.

"Let me see... six."

"Good job, we outnumbered them again." The General shook his head. "Oh well, plenty more where ours came from. If we run low we can always order some more from Scande as many times as we need until this place is flattened." He noticed one of his soldiers was looking disturbed. "Something wrong, you?"

"Just..." The soldier shook his head. "You make it sound like our soldiers are nothing more than... some kind of livestock."

"So?" Folage smiled. "You've never met Lord Jade, have you? That's exactly the way he thinks. As far as the Gold Lord is concerned, the lives of our soldiers have only one worth. Accomplishing Emperor Zog's directives, use as necessary in whatever quantities required. An attitude echoed by the rest of the Tiamat Unit, one of which, I remind you, is here at this fortress right now. Just be glad YOU're not on the front lines, soldier."

"Y... yes, sir." The soldier turned back to his work, and General Folage began examining some troop movement particulars. After about an hour, a new soldier entered the room and bowed.

"My lord, the Red Dreammaster requests your presence."

"Huh?" Folage frowned. "Oh, right. Again? Very well..." Sighing, he stood up and dropped his work, then picked it back up on second thought. "He might want to look at these, I suppose... never mind coming, soldier, I know the way. Help these others here." Walking down the halls of the fortress, he soon located his destination and entered. Mote was sitting at a table, with a brightly-colored mat representing the Forest of Despair laid out in front of him. There were small figurines standing on it representing their soldiers; tin for their own men, and clay for the enemy Forest Clanners. Mote moved them according to dispatches on known troop position brought to him every hour. Folage shuddered; the Red Dreammaster's hands, coming from the darkness of his robe's sleeves, resembled blood-colored spiders as they creeped across the forest mat. It creeped the hard-bitten General out, but he strained himself to show no signs of it. Not that it mattered, he realized as Mote's head turned towards him, hidden by his hood as always. They said that he could read your brain as easily as look at you.

"This war is not going well, General." Mote declared in his high-pitched voice. "I see many more casualties on our side than theirs, day after day, with no sign of things changing."

"They aren't going to, your grace." Folage sat down in a chair on the other end of the table. "The Forest Clan have lived in this forest for centuries. They know its layout perfectly, every tree, boulder and bush. They also have superior fighting style in this type of terrain; in deep forest, archers always trump foot fighters. Or just about anything else, for that matter. It's no surprise to me at all that we're losing more men than them; quite frankly, I knew that would be the way it goes ever since we first occupied the Forest of Despair." Something twitched under Mote's hood; lips twisting in amusement?

"Be careful, General. You're walking treacherously close to treason. Questioning Emperor Zog's decision is the highest form of it. I'd hate to have to pull that out of your brain for you... I wouldn't be able to tell what else might come out with it." He giggled, and Folage fought a wave of nausea.

"Ah... but it's not treason, your grace. I haven't yet mentioned OUR advantage, the one that negates theirs." He gestured at a sack lying in the corner full of more tin soldiers. There was none such for the clay ones. "Numbers, Dreammaster. Numbers. They can keep killing our boys until the next Dragon War, and it won't change a thing here. If we sacrifice five men to take down one of theirs, they'll run out a long time before we even come close. No matter how many of ours they kill, it won't make a difference. We can just get more; they have no such luxury. We'll just keep at it until, eventually, they run out and that's the end of the game."

"I see." Mote leaned back in his chair. "Crude, blunt, totally devoid of real tactics, but I suppose in this case it's effective enough. However, wouldn't it be much more efficient to mount an attack of our own on their capital?"

"We tried that." Folage shook his head. "As soon as our soldiers got clear of the forest, arrows came out from behind them like it was raining. Except raindrops don't drive through your brain. So no, attacking Tantar won't work." The Red Dreammaster started to say something, then stopped and shook his head.

"Whatever. Just keep at it. What about our prisoner? How is he doing?"

"As well as can be expected." Folage shrugged. "He's not exactly a spring chicken, you know, but he's still alive. We're keeping him in the cell next to Pog. The people haven't figured it out yet, so that'll probably get us their surrender a few more weeks earlier if it stays that way."

"Good." Mote nodded approvingly. _At least you're doing something right_, he thought "And about Pog... can't you keep that infernal beast quiet? His noise is interfering with my meditation... and you don't want that to continue, do you General?" Folage gulped and shook his head.

"Ah... no, sir. We'll try to keep Pog quieter." Mote nodded.

"Throw him a soldier if you have to, just make him shut up tonight. After that, I'll be returning to Scande, so it won't be an issue. One more thing... I recieved an... interesting report recently."

"Oh?" The General raised an eyebrow; anything that the Red Dreammaster would find interesting had to be big.

"Yes. It seems that there's a Light Dragon in the area, along with the Princess of Windia. There's a very high chance they'll be coming this way soon, and they may be a bit of a trouble."

"All right..." Folage shrugged. "I'll tell the soldiers to watch out for them. Is that all?"

"There's a bit more to it than that, General." Mote grinned beneath his hood. "They have the Earth Key with them." Folage's eyes grew wide.

"The... as in, THE Earth Key?"

"Yes. THE Earth Key. As in, one of the Goddess Keys. If they come here, make sure they do not leave. Emperor Zog WANTS that back. Am I clear?" Mote's eyes glowed red, and the General saluted, sweating.

"Crystal, your grace!"

"Good. You're dismissed, General." Mote watched him leave and shook his head. There was no need to tell him about the other information he had learned about this... Ryu... that would be for Folage's hopefully more competent successor.

"Well, there's the Forest of Despair." Ryu sighed. They had recieved the saw with Dorban's thanks three days ago, and were now drawing close to their destination. Ryu hefted the saw as they met the border. "Solid trees all the way... looks like we'll be using this puppy right off." Bending over near a likely-looking candidate, he started hacking, then grinding at the trunk near its base. It only took about ten minutes before he made it through and the mighty plant toppled. "Timber!"

"I got out of the way a long time ago." Nina laughed. "Now that that's over with, shall we be going?" Ryu nodded and the two of them stepped over the stump and into the Forest. Nina waved a hand in front of her face to clear away fog. "Foggy here... and dark. I can barely see..."

"I can handle that." Ryu assured her. "Sharp eyes. Don't worry." He stumbled over a tree root, and Nina moaned.

"Why am I not reassured?"

"Very funny. This way." Ryu led the way through the trees for a bit, then stopped. "Hold it. Think we've got trouble. Smells like zombies... over there." He looked around the other side of a clump of trees, and froze. Two monsters were standing there. They were not zombies. They were human skeletons, riding decaying blue horse corpses, each armed with long lances. Silently, their skulls turned to look at Ryu and Nina.

"Uh..." Nina stared. Ryu took a step back, then bolted.

"RUN!" Nina quickly followed suit in the air. Once they were a good deal away, they stopped to catch their breath. The monsters showed no sign of having followed.

"Zombies, huh?" Nina gave Ryu a look. He held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, give me a break. Corpses all smell alike, and I didn't know this forest had indiginous undead." He looked around. "Come on. Should be this way."

"Why did I let you lead?" Nina muttered several hours later.

"Come on. We're doing fine." Ryu insisted.

"Then why have we passed that tree right there five times now?"

"Shh!" Ryu put a finger to his lips, breaking off the bickering. "Something's coming. Hide." It was another pair of the skeletal riders, maybe even the same ones. This time, though, the warrior and the Princess had the advantage of surprise. They looked at each other and nodded once before moving instantly; Nina darted above the first monster's head and smashed his skull open. While his partner stared, Ryu ran forward and sliced across the chests of both horses. With a squeal, they collapsed, and the remaining skeleton was easy prey for Nina's rapier. Ryu checked to make sure they were all dead, then wiped his sword off on a tree. "Hey, they aren't so tough."

"That was nicely done!" A voice came out of the trees. "Don't move. There are five arrows trained on each of your hearts." Ryu instantly froze, and Nina hovered exactly in place. A Forest Clanner dropped out of the trees and examined them. "Nope... you're no Dark Dragons. So, are you just stupid travelers, or..."

"Actually, we're reinforcements from Tantar." Ryu explained. "Chief Lupin sent us here... are you Bo?" The Forest Clanner shook his head.

"Afraid not... Bo went inside the fortress on some kind of a sneak mission. Stupid in my opinion; bows and arrows are twenty times more effective in the woods than indoors, but he was the boss. So, Chief sent you... the way you took care of those two Skull Riders, I believe it." He waved towards the trees. "Arrows down, men. They're on our side." He turned back to Ryu. "Like I said, our weapons aren't too good indoors. Swords, though... I'd say you two have a better chance of helping Bo than all of us combined."

"You want us to go into their fortress alone?" Nina groaned. "I knew it. Mom always told me the outside world would get me killed. Boy, did she know what she was talking about."

"We'll do it." Ryu nodded, ignoring her. "Show us the way." The Forest Clanner nodded and led the way through the trees. With him at the front, they were able to make much better time; he seemed to instictively know where nooks and crannies between trees were that they could slip through. When Ryu commented as much, he laughed.

"It is instinct, friend. We're called the Forest Clan for a reason. Every one of us knows how to move through the trees in his cradle." It still took several more hours to reach the fortress, however, and though he couldn't see it through the foliage that blocked out almost all light, Ryu guessed that the sun was going down as they arrived. The Dark Dragon fortress was a singularly unimpressive-looking squat stone building, almost perfectly cubed. It was noticably lacking any sort of windows. "They filled the windows in after they learned how far away we could fire through them from." The Forest Clanner explained.

"We'll just use the door, then." Ryu shrugged. "We'll look for Bo."

"Be careful." The Forest Clanner said by way of farewell. "There's booby-traps all over the place inside... and there's something up in that place... something strange..."

"That's cheery." Nina commented as they walked inside. Almost immediately, they were confronted by a pair of Dark Dragon soldiers in orange armor. One had a bow, one a lance.

"Hold on there." The one with the lance called out. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Nobody gets past us." The bowman laughed. "We're very sharp guards! Stupid move coming here!"

"Stupid move challenging us, you mean." Ryu snarled, charging at the bowman. Nina went for the lancer, but his moment of surprise passed, and he managed to keep her at a distance with his weapon.

"What's wrong, birdy?" He taunted. "Come closer!"

"A... augh!" A scream came from the left, and he half-turned his head to see his partner go down, spewing blood. That was all it took; before he could get back in position, Nina stabbed through his arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. Another thrust in the face finished him.

"Thanks, Ryu." Nina nodded. "That bowman could have been trouble for me."

"Why do you think I took him?" Ryu grinned. "Come on, let's go." He started down the hall, but Nina grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" Taking a rock off the floor, she threw it down the hall. As soon as it touched the ground, a pit opened. She nodded. "Booby-traps. Come on, let's take a side hall." Shoving the bodies of the guards into the pit, they edged around the fortress, making sure to avoid the main hall. As they neared the north end, another pair of guards accosted them, again a lancer and a bowman.

"Halt! Intruders...!" Before they could react, Ryu and Nina were on them. These two were no more skilled than the first ones, and the fight was short and ugly.  
"Crud. No pits around to hide these ones in." Ryu grumbled, looking around. "Ah, a closet. Come on, let's get them inside. It's no good leaving them out here."

"Yeah, yeah..." Nina rolled her eyes as she hauled the Lancer across. Once the bodies were hidden, they took stock of the situation. To their left was some noise, and voices; most likely, where the soldiers' quarters were. To the right, stairs leading downwards.

"Check those out first?" Ryu asked. Nina nodded, and they went down. Just to be on the safe side, they avoided the main hall in the basement as well. As they moved down a side passage, something caught Ryu's eye. A prison cell, with three guards... and inside was the Elder of Tuntar!  
"Is that...?" Nina whispered, and Ryu nodded.

"Yeah, it is. Let's go... we've got to help him, even if he is a jerk." As they stepped out into the open, one of the guards spotted them.

"Huh? Are you here to rescue the chief! Don't make me laugh!"  
"How about we make you bleed instead, then?" Ryu moved forward. Two of them with lances moved to block him and Nina as the bowman retreated to get a good shot. Ryu swore and started chopping at the surprised soldier's lance, hacking it into pieces of firewood as he moved closer. The last swing sent the lancer's head flying. He looked at how Nina was doing.

"Ryu! Look out!" She shouted. On instinct, Ryu moved his head to the side, and an arrow whizzed past. Growling, he charged. The bowman blanched and fitted another arrow. before he could loose it, though, Ryu's sword chopped it-and him-in half. Nina had finished her lancer as well. They turned towards the chief, who had just noticed them; he had been sleeping on a cot.

"Oh, hello. I'm Chief Bart. Are you here to rescue me?"

"Uh... yeah." Ryu nodded. "But if you're here... who's in Tuntar?"

"An imposter, of course." Bart snorted. "A Dark Dragon plant using some kind of magic to look like me and stir up animosity against the Forest Clan."

"Of course!" Nina agreed. "That's why they're so hostile. Well, we'll clear that up when we get back! I'd hate to be that imposter when your people get through with him!"

"Of course, of course..." Bart agreed distantly. His eyes brightened at a sudden thought. "I've got an idea! Their weapons stores are right down the hall from here... why don't we sabotage them?"

"I like that idea..." Ryu whistled, then grinned. "I think that could pretty much kill their chances of winning anything here." Nina frowned.

"I don't know... shouldn't we be getting out of here as soon as possible?"

"Nonsense, miss! It'll only be a moment!" Bart opened the door to his cell and walked down the hall, with Ryu and Nina following. At the end, he flipped a switch and another barred door opened. "Right in here."

"Okay, whatever." Ryu shrugged and walked inside. Nina's eyes widened, and she lunged for him.

"Wait!"  
"Too late!" Cackling gleefully, the Chief flipped the switch again, and the door slammed shut behind them. "Idiots! I can't believe you fell for that! Here, Pog! It's snack time!"

"Pog? Uh-oh..." Ryu gulped. Nina glared at him as she readied her rapier.

"I hate to say I told you so, but..."

"Then don't! Holy-" The rest of Ryu's exclamation was lost in the double roar of the beast ahead. A furry lower body with four legs the size of a cart was bad enough, but what was above it was worse; TWO reptilian heads on snake-like necks, one red and one blue! "What IS that?"

"Whatever it is, it thinks we're dinner!" Nina yelled. "Keep it off while I cast a spell!" Ryu nodded and moved between the Pog and Nina. The blue head hissed and opened its mouth, spitting out a blast of icy air. Ryu blocked it with his wooden shield and sliced at the neck, but it twisted aside, and he only cut scales. Nina finished her chant, and red sparkled settled on Ryu's sword.

"Thanks... hey!" Ryu blocked again with his shield as the red head released a fireball. Unfortunately, his shield was made of wood. Cursing, he threw the ruined piece of burning slag at the blue head. It hissed again and moved to dodge it, and Ryu jumped up, slicing at it. This time, his aim struck true, and blood flew. The red head blasted fire again and knocked him down, but Nina was behind it, and blood came from there as well. Slowly, Pog stumbled over to a corner, and fell. Nina flew over to Ryu.

"You okay?"

"Just a little singed... look out!" He shoved the Princess aside as the Pog's heads extended out and snapped at her. "You're still not dead? Come ON!" As the Pog got back to its feet, the heads continued biting at him together, and try as he might, he was unable to fend them both off at once.

"That's it, Pog!" The Chief gloated. "Chomp them to bits!"

"I don't think so!" Suddenly, five arrows protruded from Pog's chest. The two heads stared incredulously, and then all four eyes dimmed over, and it toppled, this time for good. The Chief goggled.

"Pog! What happened? You're not getting away with this, Ryu!"

"How did you-" Ryu started, but was interrupted by the same voice that had apparently killed Pog.

"He'll be getting away with a lot more than that, General!" Another arrow hit the switch that controlled the door, and it swung open. "We mean business!" Ryu threw his head back and laughed as Nina blinked.

"Who-?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ryu smirked at the "Chief." "What do you think? Have you figured it out? Or do we need to tell you? What do you think... Bo?"

"So you know who I am. Yeah, that's my name." From down the hall, a lone Forest Clanner walked. He was tall and lean, but muscular, and his fur was a brown darker than the normal gold. "This bum was actually telling the truth to a degree. The chief in Tuntar IS a fake. I rescued the REAL one while you were distracting this jerk and his pet. Thanks." He cocked an eyebrow. "You have the advantage of me, but your introductions will have to wait. We've got somebody to deal with."

"Yeah..." Ryu and Nina glared at the fake Chief. "We don't take kindly to tricks like that, buddy. Why don't you show us who you really are?"

"Well, if you insist..." Chuckling, the old man crouched, and his wrinkled skin flowed like melting wax. When he stood up again, he was a middle-aged man with a wide mustache clad in the orange, ornate armor of a General. "I'm General Folage, commander of this warzone! You wish to fight me, then?"

"You got it." Ryu and Nina advanced, and Bo joined them, backing Folage up against a wall. "Any last words?"

"I doubt I'm the one needing them, really." Folage smiled arrogantly, drawing his own blade, as long as Terrack's had been. However, Folage was much more muscular than the Knight.

__

Doubt he'll be getting tired easily, Ryu thought. _Whoa!_ He jumped back as the sword smashed into the floor where he had been a moment before. _Fast, too!_ "Nina! Does that spell work on any weapon?"

"Yeah!"

"Use it on Bo, then!" Ryu moved forward and locked swords with the General. Folage was stronger and had the heavier blade, but Ryu was still able to hold him.

"No need for that, actually." Bo smiled and raised his hand. "I'm bringing out some heavier artillery." The air above crackled, and a bolt of lightning struck Folage's head.  
"Argh! So, you know lightning magic..." Folage snarled. "Well, you're not the only one with tricks like that!" He shoved Ryu's sword aside and pointed his own at the archer, and a fireball flew out from the tip into him. Bo went flying.

"Hold on!" Nina changed the spell she was casting, and blue sparkles settled over Bo. "There... increased resilience instead of pumping up your weapon!" Bo got back to his feet and smiled at her.

"Thanks!" He loosed a few arrows to distract Folage, then followed them up with a puff of freezing gas. The General attempted to slice it in half, and was rewarded for his stupidity by having his entire arm freeze.

"No!"

"Yes!" Grinning, Ryu sliced the entire arm off, and Folage screamed.

"NO!" Suddenly, he grinned and snatched up his sword with his other hand. Caught off guard, Ryu was hit across the chest; it was only by rolling back at the last moment that he was able to avoid being completely sliced in half.

"Ryu!" Nina yelled. "Bo, keep him off me!" She flew over to Ryu and bent over him, casting a healing spell. Folage laughed and started towards them, but stopped as an arrow bounced off his shoulder armor.

"Keep trying to go for them if you dare." Bo pulled out another arrow. "Next time, I won't miss." Folage growled and started for him.

"Fine, then! You can die before they do!" Another blast of ice hit him, but this time he kept moving, forcing through the ice shards. Bo tried to fire a third, but it sputtered and died. Folage laughed and raised his sword. "All tired out, are we? Don't worry, I'll make this quick!" Suddenly, he choked, and his other arm went flying in a spray of blood.

"Nice trick, being ambidextrous... but it wasn't enough." Ryu grinned, lowering his own sword. Folage looked from one warrior to another, panicking.

"Damn you all! You've won the battle, but not the war! The river is still dry!" He turned and ran towards Pog's cell, but there was a thunk, and he fell forward as an arrow sprouted from the back of his head. Bo grunted and strapped his bow to his back.

"Nice shot." Ryu congratulated him. The archer just shrugged.

"Fairly average. Shall we be going, then? The real Chief Bart's waiting for us with my men up on the first floor." Nina nodded.

"You've taken the fort, then?"  
"Yeah. A lot of the soldiers got away, though, when the tide turned... and even Folage's death here doesn't mean that much, since apparently another General was coming in to replace him anyways with a legion of reinforcements."

"Great." Ryu groaned. "Oh well, at least we pissed them off here, and got the Chief back. Shall we be going?"

"All right." Bo smiled, and the three of them turned and walked back down the hall. "By the way... who are you two again?"


	6. Chapter 5: Giant Robot Action

**__**

Chapter 5: Giant Robot Action!

"Well, you've certainly been busy, Ryu." The Dragon God smiled warmly. Looking around, Ryu dimly realized that he was in the local Dragon Temple, and that the statue had come to life, changing into the ethereal spirit of Ladon himself once more.

"Am I... dreaming again?"

"Well, yes and no." The Dragon God frowned. "That's really a tough quesiton, and the answer would depend on exactly what you percieve dreams as. You see, when the mind enters an unconscious state..." He paused, noticing that Ryu was staring with glazed eyes. "Well, never mind that. That's not the issue here. You've done well, Ryu. You're matching the Dark Dragons in the number of Goddess Keys, and you've found two of the people who are destined to aid you. Not bad for barely being a month out."

"I try, your divinityship." Ryu bowed, and the Dragon God winced.

"That's a bit cumbersome, isn't it? But that aside..." His eyes turned serious. "Ryu, you've done good so far. But danger is approaching again. The only way to save this world from plunging into darkness, Ryu... is to awaken the sleeping guardian."

"But... how?" Ryu asked desperately as he felt the light of day starting to envelope the dream. Ladon's voice called to him even as he disappeared.

"Romero, Ryu... the key to the key is in Romero..." And then the Light Dragon was awake, and the morning sun was shining on his face through the window of his room at the local inn. Upon returning, he and Nina had been given free room and board for as long as they needed by the grateful innkeeper. Sighing, Ryu slipped on some clothes, then went to see if the princess was awake yet.

"All right, let's review the situation." Chief Lupin grunted. It was noon, and he, Chief Bart, Ryu, Nina and Bo were gathered around a table in his house for a council of war. "One. The Dark Dragons have been chased out of the Forest of Despair... for now. General Folage has been killed, and the real Elder Bart has been rescued... whatever happened to that other fake, by the way?"

"He developed a sudden urge to go swimming in the river." Bart smirked. "Headfirst."

"I just adore small-town justice, don't you?" Nina commented to Ryu, who laughed.

"You forget, I come from a place smaller than this. Although, to be honest, we only had one instance where we had to apply such justice. A guy thought it would be a good idea to try to scalp a widow on the price of her husband's business."  
"Oh? What happened to him?" Bo asked, interested.

"He fell down a flight of stairs." The Light Dragon smirked. "Repeatedly. My sister was nice enough to set all his bones before he left. I think he said he was going to Arad."

"If we might get back on topic?" Chief Lupin coughed. "Two. A new General, General Graham, arrives here in a few days with a legion of reinforcements. The survivors of Folage's legion are camped along the east coast, all the way from the Stone Robot up north to the volcanoes in the south. If they stay in that position when Graham arrives... we're going to be in a lot of trouble. There's no way in hell we can hope to match them on open ground in those numbers."

"Three, we still have water troubles and nothing we can do will move those boulders." Bart concluded. "Well, Lupin, I think we both know what the only solution to this is." The Forest Clan chief nodded glumly.

"And that would be...?" Ryu prompted. Bo sighed.

"What our elderly friends are trying to tell us is that it's time for the Stone Robot to be reactivated for the first time since the Dragon War."  
"But... how?" Nina blinked. "Nobody knows anything about the Robot any more..."

"Almost nobody." Bart corrected her. "Something we've been keeping a secret from the rest of the world ever since the Dragon War... at the instruction of the Forest Clanner who accompanied that Ryu. The key to activating the Stone Robot... really is a key. A special one."

"A Goddess Key." Ryu said grimly. Bo nodded.

"Exactly. From what you've told us, the Dark Dragons are trying to collect all of the Goddess Keys, so they can raise Myria. And I don't know about you, but I'd really prefer it if that didn't happen."

"The King Key is the one that's used to activate the Stone Robot." Lupin leaned back in his chair. "The Goddess Keys, aside from their primary function, were-are-all very powerful weapons. The Earth Key can cause horrible quakes... the Light Key and Dark Key can alter night and day... and the King Key can awaken the Stone Robot again." He sighed. "The only problem is, we don't know where the King Key IS."

"I hope that one's not the one the Dark Dragons have..." Nina moaned. Ryu shook his head.

"No... it's not. Does anybody know where Romero is?" The others looked at him strangely, but Nina nodded.

"Yeah... it's a town up in the northlands. Near Karma. Why?"

"Well..." Ryu hesitated for a moment, thinking about the best way to say it. Somehow, he doubted "god told me this" would be very convincing. "My sister was a priestess. She told me once that the people of a place called Romero knew about the King Key."

"A bit sketchy, but if it's all we have to go on..." Bo shrugged. "All right, the three of us go to Romero."

"Three?" Everybody else stared at him.

"Yeah." Bo shook his head. "Before you all start arguing, keep this in mind. The Ramui Woods run all the way to the northwest of our territory, north of the Winlan bridge. If I go with Ryu and Nina, we can be through those woods to Romero in half the time it would otherwise to take to go through Winlan and the Aura Cave. Time is of the essence; we have to get that Key and get back here as fast as possible before General Graham wipes everything out."

"You make a good point." Ryu conceded reluctantly. "You can get us through the Ramui Woods that fast?" Bo nodded.

"You already know we're called the Forest Clan for a reason... and I'm the best." He said it simply stating a fact, not boasting.

"Then I don't think we've really got any choice. Your graces?" He turned to the two chiefs. Bart in turn looked at Lupin.

"He's one of your clan."

"All right." Lupin sighed heavily. "Bo, go with them. I'll have the rest of our archers organize... if the Dark Dragons start moving, we'll hold them off as long as we can."

"And I'll see what my people can do." Bart stood up. "We may not be as good shots as your Clan, but we can still fight close-range."

"We'll leave tomorrow, then." Ryu decided. "We can be in Romero in... a week, if Bo's estimation of the time we'll need is right. As soon as we have the King Key, we'll come back." Lupin nodded, still looking depressed.  
"I just hope it's enough..."

"Looks like you were right on time." Ryu told Bo as the three of them emerged from the Ramui Woods. "Just about one week. We made good time." The Forest Clanner just shrugged.

"Fairly routine if you know what you're doing. Or can just fly above the trees." He looked up at Nina, who waved.

"Hey, I came down to off that giant spider that was sneaking up without either of you seeing it, right?"

"As the talking frogs near Gant say, touche, missy." Bo muttered. "At any rate, here's Romero. Let's see about getting rooms first, then we can try to get in to see the chief about the King Key."  
"I know just the place." Nina led the way into the town. The people of Romero had changed since she had last been here; now, each and every one of them crept around with scared expressions on their faces, almost as if they expected to be attacked at any moment. For some reason, the soil was a strange purplish color that did nothing to help the mood. Ryu frowned.

"These people are giving me the creeps... and what is that smell? "

"You're not the only one..." Bo sniffed the air. "Both the creeps and the smell. Something stinks here. Death... everywhere. It's like the entire place is one big charnelhouse..." He fell quiet as Nina pushed open the door. At first, it seemed nobody was there. A moment later, the innkeeper poked his head out from behind the counter.

"Yes...? Can I help... young lady, haven't you been here before?" Nina smiled winningly.

"Yes I have, good innkeeper. Me and my friends will be requiring more rooms tonight."

"This is a bad time for it, I'm afraid, miss..." The stout innkeeper shook his head gravely. "No matter what you're here for, I'd advise you forget it. Get out of Romero, and don't come back..." He seemed to suddenly notice something. "Say, what happened to those two fellows who were with you last time?" Nina sighed mournfully.

"They died, I'm afraid... gave up their lives in the slaying of the Wizard, Manson."

"What a sha-WHAT?" The innkeeper's eyes looked like they were going to explode out of his head. "Did you say Manson is dead?"

"Yes. And this time, permanently." Ryu confirmed. "Me and her were both there. Believe me, the Wizard of Karma is very dead."

"But that's impossible... he can't be... he's doing all this..." The innkeeper was muttering.

"Beg pardon?"

"Oh!" He looked up. "Well, you see... wait. If you're telling the truth, if you killed Manson... maybe you can help us! Come with me, please!" He ran out of the inn. The three looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him to the largest house in town. "Chief! Chief! Open up! There's some people here... they say they killed Manson!" A few moments passed with no response, and then there were noises like large bolts being shifted. The door opened, revealing a stringy-looking old man with wild hair.

"Killed Manson? Nonsense."

"I assure you, it was not, sir." Ryu said firmly. "I hacked off his right arm and leg, Nina here drove her sword through his forehead, and what was left of him fell into molten lava. Even with all his magic, I doubt the Wizard of Karma is anything more than cinders and slag now." The chief raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you tell a convincing story... and you look capable of it, I suppose. Maybe you CAN help us... come in." They entered his house, and he gestured for them to sit down. "Miss, you've been here before, about a month back, correct?" Nina nodded. "Did you hear about the zombies from our graveyard?" Another nod. "Well, then. Until about a week ago, the zombies... the ones from this graveyard, anyways... were docile. Then, they changed. Most of them don't even have their minds left any more... they're like animals. They howl at the moon, and they've torn apart some of our animals. We're afraid if they go any further, they'll attack us next... and nothing we can do will stop them. We've tried, believe me, but any wounds, even to the head, just heal instantly."

"Then we wouldn't be able to do much..." Ryu shook his head regretfully. "We just dealt with zombies by killing them with the normal methods."

"Then we are well and truly doomed..." The chief mourned. Bo's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe not... tell me, what exactly did this Wizard do to bring the zombies up?" The chief thought.

"He poured a potion over the ground in the graveyard. The earth was poisoned, and it spread to the rest of the ground in this town... you can see it if you look."

"So that's why the dirt's purple." Bo snapped his fingers. "And that's why you haven't been able to kill them. The magic that's animating them is in the earth they were buried in, not in themselves. Obviously, though, we can't just kill the dirt. Nina... Life Magic can nullify Death Magic, right?"

"Highly advanced spells, yes..." Nina frowned. "But I don't know those ones... and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to cast them on all the earth here..."

"But Life Magic doesn't only exist in spells!" Ryu's eyes lit up. "Springs of Life... the Water of Life! It's very potent... would it be able to purify the soil?" His eyes dimmed. "Wait... even if it could, there's nowhere we could find enough of it..."

"Now just a second there." Bo looked at the chief. "That just may be the answer... and I've heard stories about a cave near here... a cave where you can find an underground lake, and if you swim in it, all that ails you will be healed. Is this true?"

"Well... yes." The chief admitted reluctantly. "The Cave of Cleansing Water... you have to walk all the way west through the Ramui Woods to Karma, then go south." He thought for a moment. "All right, it looks like that's the best chance. Here's the deal. There was once a man in this town who applied magic to everyday jars and pots. He made them into magical artifacts that could hold ten times, twenty times as much liquid as they should. They say before he died, he created a masterpiece... a jar that could hold a hundred gallons of water."

"But if he's dead..." Nina interjected.  
"He's one of the zombies." The chief continued. "His wife is still alive... she sleeps during the day so she can be with him at night when the zombies roam. I think that when she's with him, part of his mind still remains..."

"I think I saw them when I was here before." Nina recalled. "All right. We'll talk with them about that jar, then go get the water."

"If you do this thing, every man in town will aid you in whatever you have come here for, no matter what it is." The chief promised. Ryu smiled.

"Good. We're here for big game... Goddess Key game. We'll see you when we get back." The three of them walked out before the startled Chief could respond. "If we're going to be walking around at night, we should probably catch some naps at the inn right now." The guys nodded, and they went to do just that.

That night, the three adventurers poked their heads out of the inn door once the sun had gone down. A man with sickly blue skin lurched by, howling wierdly. His eyes were vacant of anything even resembling thought.

"Yeah, it's zombie hour, all right..." Ryu muttered. They closed the door behind them and heard the innkeeper bolt it. "Where did you see that couple, Nina?"

"The graveyard."

"Figures." They creeped through the town cautiously. The zombies did not seem to be particularly hostile yet, but the adventurers tried to avoid them anyways to be on the safe side. As they neared the graveyard, they saw an old man and woman perched on gravestones, talking. The old man's skin was blue.

"Are you the magical jar maker, sir?"

"I am." He turned to look at them. His pupils were barely visible, as through a thick fog. "You... want something of me?"

"Your masterpiece. The jar that can hold a hundred gallons." Bo nodded. "We need it. Will you..."

"No! No! Never!" The old lady shrieked suddenly. "I know what you want that for! You want it to carry Water of Life! You want to return the zombies, return my husband to the grave!"

"Dear, we've... already discussed this." The old man sighed. "We knew... somebody would ask about that. I told you. And... my mind is starting to fade. Look." He pointed at another zombie. "Soon, I'll be like him... just another mindless shambler. And then... what? Attacking the villagers... attacking you? Impossible. These people are going to save Romero, dearest one... I have to leave." The old lady bit her lip, but she said nothing more. The old man hopped down and dug in the grave for a bit, then pulled out a cloth-wrapped object. It was a jar carved of pure white marble, bound around the neck with a ring of silver. "This is the Water Jar... not a very imaginative name, but it serves. It can hold a hundred gallons of water. Use it... please. Save Romero..."

"We will." Ryu promised, taking the jar. The old lady looked at him.

"If it must be so... then it will be. I've enjoyed our time together..." She looked at Ryu. "I think if we both give it our all, the two of us can prevent the other zombies from deteriorating to a dangerous point until you get back." Ryu nodded.

"We'll move as fast as we can." They departed Romero that very evening, and struck out west, through the Ramui Woods. Nina glared at the Towers of Karma as they neared them.

"Even after he dies, Manson still plagues us... that skeletal sicko's probably laughing his rotting butt off in whatever hell he's at right now." South of Karma took them out of the Woods, and to a lake. In the middle of it, a small peninsula extended to a cave mouth.

"Good thing it's not an island." Bo commented. "I'm not a very good swimmer, and don't even get me started about the smell. Like a wet dog, only ten times worse."

"We'll make sure not to push you in the Water of Life, then." Nina smirked as they entered. Ryu looked around and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay... wierd." Unlike most caves, the Cave of Cleansing Water was not dark at all, but there were no torches or holes in the ceiling. Instead, the rock all around them seemed to glow with an eerie blue phosporesence.

"Hey, it's almost the exact same shade of blue as your hair!" Nina realized. "Yeah... this is spooky. Let's get going."

"Hold it." Bo slowly drew his weapon, then fired a pair of arrows at lightning speed. Two pale-skinned slugs with abnormally large, cute golden eyes fell from the ceiling, transfixed. "Those buggers were planning to get the drop on you... literally." The Forest Clanner grunted.

"They don't look very threatening..." Nina protested. Bo shook his head.

"Look again. They're sporting some fangs I did not like. Let's go." They journeyed down the glowing tunnels. All Ryu could tell about their overall direction was that they were going steadily downward. After about an hour or so, they emerged in a larger cavern room. Two other tunnels led outward.

"Which one do we want?" Ryu frowned.  
"Well, the one we came from goes upward. So does one of these new ones. We should probably take the one that goes downward instead... the water'll most likely be near the bottom of the cave." Nina deduced. Bo fitted an arrow to his bow.

"Natch that for the nonce. We've got company!" From each one of the three tunnel mouths, something emerged, squealing. They looked like huge, green blobs of slime, but they had disgusting things swimming around in them that looked vaguely like internal organs. Nina gagged.

"What ARE those things?"

"I think the Romero chief forgot to mention a few things about this cave..." Ryu growled. Bo chuckled cynically.

"Yeah. These here would be known as the reason he didn't come himself. All right, everybody take one!" The green blobs proved to be unusually tough to kill. Ryu sliced deep gashes in his, leaking green goo. Nina waited until one of the organs neared the outer lining, then skewered them with quick thrusts. Bo stood a safe distance back and riddled his with arrows. They all kept on coming, despite shrinking due to the loss of liquids. Finally, Ryu's enemy flopped down, a husk without anything left inside, and expired. Bo managed to off his by freezing it with an ice spell, then shattering it. Nina, however, had gotten hers down to the size of her head when it lashed out in sudden anger and spewed the rest of its slime at her, somehow igniting it. Nina screamed as the fires touched her, then started fanning her wings to put them out.

"Are you all right?" Ryu bent over. She smiled a little weakly.

"Scorched, but not barbecued. I'll be fine..." She clenched a fist. "Although I'm not making any promises about the chief of Romero once I get my hands on him!"

"We'll worry about that when we get back there." Ryu helped her into the air, and the three went down the next tunnel. At the end, there was a hole in the floor, with a rope ladder leading down. Shrugging, Ryu descended it, followed by Bo, and then by Nina who simply flew down. At the bottom, they found themselves on a small island in the middle of the biggest lake they had ever seen. The entire thing was underground, and yet they could not see the cavern walls in any direction. Ancient, broken pillars rose both from the island and from the water itself, and an ancient set of stone stairs descended into the depths. None of this, though, caught their attention. What they WERE focusing on was the most disreputable-looking old man any of them had ever seen. He was wearing a stained and patched tunic and leggings, shoes that did not match, a burlap cloak and a piece of rope for a belt. A battered felt hat completed the effect, and he looked both unshaven and drunk. He doubtless would have been filthy as well, save that he was in the middle of the lake, actually swimming in the Water of Life.

"Hey, kids." The shabby old man called to them, doing a backstroke. "If you're looking for the Water of Life, you've come to the right spot. Otherwise, you're in trouble."

"Uh... yeah, we're here for the Water..." Ryu shook his head. "Who... are you?"

"Me?" The old man blew water like a whale. "Heck, I don't know. Might have had a name at one point, but if I did, I've probably forgotten it. Just call me Uncle Specs. I live down here and talk to God. Sometimes he even talks back." Bo shook his head.

"Okay, sure. Listen. This IS the Water of Life, right?"

"Would it be called the Cave of Cleansing Water if it wasn't, son?" 'Uncle Specs' laughed. "Of course it is. This lake here feeds every single Spring of Life in the world through underground channels. This is where it all comes from."

"Then there should be more than enough for Romero." Nina smiled happily. Ryu nodded.

"Uh, listen... is it okay if we take some water? A lot of it?" The old man shrugged, almost sinking.

"Sure, there'll always be more. Take as much as you like."

"Thanks." Walking over to the stairs, Ryu bent down on his knees and dunked the Water Jar. Unlike ordinary jars, though, it did not immediately fill up; the water just went into it, and then kept going in, like down a drain. It was about ten minutes before the suction stopped and Ryu lifted it out of the water.

"Just be careful not to spill it." Bo joked. "You'll flood the entire continent."

"Ha ha." Ryu turned to the old man. "Well, uh... it was nice meeting you, 'Uncle Specs.' We'll be off now." 'Uncle Specs' waved.

"All right, then! Give my best to the zombies!"

"General Graham!" A Dark Dragon soldier saluted as his commander walked into the tent. "We weren't expecting you until later, sir!"

"We put on a burst of speed at the end." The General shrugged, removing his ornate helmet and stroking his long, drooping mustache.

"We? Does that mean the legion is here as well?" The soldier asked.

"Of course they are, you imbecile." Graham said without looking at him. "Why would I be here without them? Is this Folage's?" He gestured at a desk, covered with pictures of the arrogant General.

"Yes sir!" The soldier confirmed. Graham swept an arm across the top, clearing the desk with a great crash of breaking glass.  
"Well, it's mine now. Hope he doesn't mind my redecorating."

"Sir, General Folage is dead." The soldier blurted out. "He was killed when we lost our base in the Forest of Despair."

"So he was..." Graham mused. "Well, no great loss to the empire there. Folage always thought he was better than he actually was, even in tactics school. Figures I have to clean up after him, even after he's dead. Well, I can turn this operation around."

"Are we going to be retaking our base in the Forest of Despair, sir?" The soldier asked timidly. Graham shot him a look of disbelief.

"Why the HELL would we want to do that? The Forest Clan have the clear advantage there, you ninny. That's why so many of you got killed under Folage's brilliant supervision. Ladon, I've got my work cut out for me more than I thought if everybody here is as stupid as you." Sighing, he flopped down into a chair behind the desk. "Make yourself useful. Brief me on the geography."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted. "Our encampment currently stretches all along the east coast, from the volcanoes near the dry river in the south to the Stone Robot in the north. West of here in the north is the Forest of Despair. The dry river comes down out of it. The towns of Tantar and Tuntar are situated on either side of it further south."

"Stone Robot?" Graham sat up straight, eyes taking on a peculiar gleam. "Is that the same Stone Robot that they say the King Key is used to activate?"

"I believe so, sir."

"Very interesting..." The General leaned back again. "What kind of actions have the Forest Clan been taking against us since the, ah, incident in the Forest of Despair?"

"Not much, sir." The soldier frowned. "They've formed up west of us, and there seem to be some humans from Tuntar along with them. They're not making any signs to suggest that they'll be attacking us, but instead seem to be preparing themselves to defend. It doesn't make much sense, sir."

"Not normally, no..." Graham mused. "Normally, they'd want to take the offensive, hit us here while we had our pants down... but if they were only some kind of a delaying action, if they were waiting for something... yes, that's what they'd do." The soldier frowned.

"Sir?"

"Here's what we're going to do, grunt." Graham suddenly stood up, pacing. "We're going to split this army in half. Half of the soldiers will head west and attack the enemy forces. The other half will go north and take up positions around the Stone Robot on all sides possible."

"But, sir!" The soldier started to protest. "Why? If we moved all our forces to the enemy, we'd crush them! What would be the point of only sending half and moving the rest up to..." He stopped suddenly. Graham's eyes had taken on a dangerous glare, and his hand was on his sword.

"Are you questioning my orders?" He asked, barely audibly. The soldier gulped and shook his head as fast as he could.

"No... no, sir! Orders understood!"

"You may leave now, then." Graham inclined his head towards the exit, and the soldier practically flew out. Graham returned to his pacing, thinking hard, recalling what Mote, the Red Dreammaster, had told him a few days ago.

__

"General, there's something... special... about the warzone you're heading to that you should be aware of." Mote had said. "Or perhaps someONE special is better... there's a person who's been causing us some aggravation lately. A Light Dragon named Ryu. He appears to possess at least some skill with fighting, and quite a bit at screwing things up for us. I'm sure you've heard about the disaster at Nanai. In truth, that wasn't Terrack's fault, though he was an incompetent. No, this Ryu killed Terrack, took the Earth Key, and destroyed the city. He then went and derailed a very expensive plot we had gone to quite some extremes to carry out. One of our allies, the Wizard of Karma, poisoned the King of Winlan, and his silly daughter went to try and get the antidote. However, Ryu followed and saved her, killed the Wizard, and got the antidote himself. That's a lot of money wasted. The Wizard had, however, set up a spell recording their fight, and it was transmitted to Blue, thus how we know all this. Ryu now appears to be in Forest Clan territory, and he seems to have brought that princess along with him. If his past record is any kind of indication, he's very clever, and he'll try to kick your forces out of this area as well. If he does, direct all your forces towards him. Kill him, and get that Earth Key back, no matter what the cost."

"Hm, I wonder..." Picking up a report on the fight in the Forest of Despair, the General flipped through it to the end. "Aha! Just as I thought... a man with blue hair and a Wing Clan girl, along with a dark-furred Forest Clanner... huh, might want to keep an eye out for that fellow as well. Point is, mister Ryu was here all right, and he was making a hash of our business as usual." Tossing the report aside, he sat behind his desk, grinning wildly. "And now this silence, this waiting on our enemies' part. Ryu's not here any more, and the Forest Clanners are counting on him to come back with something... something that they have to believe will win this war for them. And there's only one thing that could be. The King Key." He threw back his head and laughed. "That simpleminded dunce! Does he think he can simply reactivate the Stone Robot that easily? Oh well, I suppose I shouldn't complain... it's not like I'd know where the King Key is by myself. And now, all I have to do is wait here, and my friend Ryu will come and bring me not one, but TWO Goddess Keys! I've wanted to get my hands on just one for so long... and now two! Ladon truly does smile upon me..."

"Sir?" Another soldier was standing in the entrance to the tent. "Sir, the legion has arrived. They're out here waiting for you to inspect them." Groaning, Graham rose from his seat.

"Oh, very well... I suppose it is expected..." He shrugged as he walked out. "And besides, it's not as if show time is going to come any time soon... still a little more time before that, if Ryu is doing what he's supposed to..."

"Well, let's see if this works." Ryu grunted. They were back in Romero, and all the living townspeople were gathered around. Slowly, the Light Dragon warrior began pouring the Cleansing Water out. It disappeared into the soil as if something was drinking it up, but more and more kept pouring out. Gradually, the purple color began to fade. The dirt turned brown, and then suddenly, healthy green grass sprung up all over the town. The graveyard was the last place to be affected, but as the water's flow began to lessen, the graves were covered with beautiful flowers. The jarmaker's wife knelt by his grave, which had sprouted a rosebush, and plucked a single flower from it. Bo smiled.

"Hey, Ryu... the smell's gone. We did it."

"Seem that way." Nina agreed. The townspeople erupted in a cheer.

"Hooray! The zombies are history!"

"Excuse me, coming through..." Pushing, the Chief came through the crowd to face the three heroes. "Thank you, all of you! We are greatly in your debt!"

"Yeah, about that." Ryu smiled. It was not a nice smile. Neither were the ones Nina and Bo were wearing. "We noticed a few things you forgot to mention about that cave. Like, say, the giant flame-spewing blobs and the fanged, ceiling-crawling slugs. Ring any bells?" The Chief gulped.

"Well... I suppose, perhaps, I might have heard something about that... once or twice..."

"You don't say." Nina flexed her wings, making a sound similar to one cracking their knuckles. "We found those things you, ah, forgot, troublesome. Now, how grateful are you again?"

"Anything in the town is yours." The Chief blurted. "Whatever you want."

"The Goddess Key." Bo nodded. "You have information. We need it. Talk." The Chief paled.

"Goddess Key? Oh, no... no, we know nothing about..." He stopped as he saw them start to approach. "Wait! All right, all right! The King Key is in Agua, north of here!"

"Agua..." Nina thought. "I remember seeing that. But there's no way in..."

"Oh, I think there is." Ryu shot the Chief a look. "There's always a way in... and I'm betting our chum here knows it. Don't you?" The old man blinked.

"What? Oh, no, I..."

"Think carefully before you answer, friend." Bo advised him. The Chief faltered.

"Oh... yes, I do. It's the greatest secret of our village... ever since the War of the Dragons..."

"Well, I've got news." Ryu told him, suddenly growing grim. "You might not have heard about it back here, but the Dark Dragons are going after the same thing again. They want all the Goddess Keys, so if we don't take the King Key off your hands, sooner or later THEY'll come up here for it. And they won't ask nicely like we are. So which is it going to be, Chief? Us or the Dark Dragons?"

"The... oh damn it all, fine. Follow me." Muttering to himself, the Chief took them to his house, where he pushed aside an old bookcase. Hidden in an alcove behind it was a flat, dust-covered stone disk. Ryu took it and blew on it to get the dust off. It was covered with strange designs, symbols and messages carved into it.

"What's this?"

"This Tablet is the key to entering Agua." The Chief told them. "Walk to the end of the pier and place it there. You'll see the spot where it goes."

"And that will get us into this Agua place?" Bo pressed. The Chief nodded. "Good. We'll be off tomorrow. Oh, one more thing. We'll be staying at the inn tonight, and probably another night after we get back. You can take care of the tab for that, can't you?" The Chief nodded again unhappily. "All right. Thanks. We'll see you around."

The next day, they left at daybreak and immediately went north. Nina just smiled as the two guys stared at Agua.

"Holy..."

"What IS it?"

"It's our destination is what it is, gentlemen." Nina told them. "If what I've heard is correct, we'll be the only people who have set foot there since the Dragon War."

"Wow..." Ryu shook his head. "Well, if there was a place I'd look for a Goddess Key, that's be it. Guess my namesake couldn't be subtle with hiding all of them... let's go." The three of them walked out to the end of the pier. The entire thing seemed to be built of marble. At the end there was a depression that looked as if it would fit the Tablet exactly. Shrugging, Ryu set it in. Nothing happened. "Great. Now what?"

"Maybe you have to read those wierd words on it?" Bo suggested.

"Sure, why not..." Rolling his eyes heavenward, Ryu bent over it. "Let's see... Nikrowd, Eertkorb, Yerfmuh, Nidleb, Lizah, Nohkera... is that how it's-whoa!" All three of them dropped to the ground as everything began shaking, like there was a sudden earthquake.

"But I didn't touch the Earth Key!" Ryu yelled over the noise.

"It's not that! It'a Agua!" Nina yelled back. As suddenly as it had began, the disturbance stopped. Looking up, the three saw that the floating landmass had descended so that the very bottom of it was on their level. A staircase that had not been visible before connected to the pier and led into a cave mouth. Bo frowned.

"I don't like this. What if somebody comes along and takes the Tablet? Will we be stuck up there?"

"I don't think so." Nina shook her head. "Besides, even if we are, I can fly down and retrieve it. I doubt that force field or whatever that keeps Wing Clanners from flying in works both ways."

"No help for it, I guess." Ryu set himself. "Let's just get this over with as fast as we can then, folks." He walked up the staircase, and the other two followed him.

Despite having been untouched for ages, Agua had not a speck of dust or a single cobweb. The interior of the structure was carved out of some yellow stone. Every wall had murals etched on it, and spookily, blue torches were set along them, burning eternally though nobody tended to them. Bo shivered.

"This place... lots of magic here. Old magic... the kind that can blow you out the other side of the universe if you screw with it. Creepy..." He shook his head. "Let's just hope there's no guards." They turned around a hall corner, climbed up a level, and found themselves facing a huge gap that covered most of the entire floor, which all seemed to be one huge room. "Great. Looks like this is Wing Clan only from this point on..."

"No, wait." Ryu pointed at the pit. Floating at the edge was some kind of large floor tile... without a floor. It simply hovered. "That looks like a transport." Bo stared at him as if he had just suggested they flap their arms and jump. "Look, it's the only way. Like you said a moment ago, we can HOPE there's no guards, but I wouldn't bet on it. And if there are, chances say all three of us will need to be there to win. No other option."

"No way." Bo shook his head firmly. "No way in hell. I am NOT doing it." Ryu sighed.

"Look, I'll go first. Watch. If I don't die, you'll know it's safe." Hopping on, he waited as the tile coasted across the gap easily, and jumped off on the other side. "See? No problems. It's fine." Bo still shook his head.

"No. I HATE heights. I'm not riding that thing."

"Look, Bo." Nina sighed. "I understand that you don't want to. But if you don't, we may not get the Key... and then the Dark Dragons will conquer your people. I'm sorry, but there's no other way." Bo bit his lip. He closed his eyes. He jumped on the tile.

"Tell me when I'm across..."

"You're here." Ryu informed him, and the Forest Clanner jumped off as if somebody had lit a fire under his tail. Nina glided across.

"See? That wasn't so hard."

"Let's just go." Bo growled. Unfortunately for him, it did not end there; the next two floors were similar. Both times the Forest Clanner went across with his eyes clamped tightly shut. On the fourth floor, the ride took them not to another staircase. The far side of the room had two other features. A huge iron door, locked tightly shut with a mechanism as big as their heads. And a short half-pillar, covered with even more strange carvings than the rest of Agua. A glowing blue crystal orb was resting on top of the latter.

"Well, we're not getting through there..." Ryu tilted his head at the door. "...so let's just hope this is it." He walked up to the pillar and examined the orb.

"What?" A deep voice came out from it, making all three of them jump. "Who's there? What is going on here?" From the orb, a blue mist creeped out. Within it, the three could see a pair of baleful yellow eyes. "You seek the King Key?"

"Uh... yeah." Ryu nodded. "The Dark Dragons are trying to revive the-"

"I care not for your motives!" The spirit boomed. "I am the Wisp, the Guardian of the King Key! If you wish to revive it from its slumber, then you must prove yourselves to me!"

"It's hostile!" Bo yelled. "Get it!" Stretching his bowstring tight, he loosed several rounds into the Wisp. Laughing, the spirit extended a portion of itself to whack him in the face. He recoiled back; it had been like being smashed with a large chunk of ice. Nina cast her resistance-increasing spell on him as Ryu made his attack, slicing a large gash in the mist. Wisp winced, but the gap closed.

"Damn it! How do you fight this thing?"

"Maybe this will help more!" Bo flung a bolt of lightning at the Wisp, who recoiled from it, hissing. "Ha! Don't like that, eh? Ryu! Maybe if you go for the face!"

"Gotcha!" Ryu jumped forward to try for it, hacking off chunks of mist that were in his way. Wisp opened up a dark hole below the eyes in the shape of a smiling mouth, and balls of ice flew out to smash into all three heroes' faces. Nina immediately cast a healing spell on Ryu, then Bo.

"Don't let up, guys! Keep on him!" Finally, Ryu reached the eyes. He plunged his sword into one, and Wisp shrieked.

"Move, Ryu! Now!" Bo yelled. The Light Dragon complied, and he hurled his thunderbolt spell again, right into Wisp's other eye. With another scream, the blue mist dissolved into the air. Ryu sheathed his blade.

"Another nasty down..."

"Wait, no! It's coming back!" Nina yelled. Ryu cursed and pulled his sword out again as blue mist reformed above the orb. This time, though, Wisp made no moves to attack.

"Ah... no, no. You have done well indeed. Take the King Key with my blessing, Ryu!" The orb floated into the air, and within it, a dark shape could be visible. As the three stared, the orb hovered down to Ryu, and then suddenly shattered as a small object placed itself in his hand. A key. Much slimmer than the Earth Key, it was carved of solid gold. At the top, wings flanked a nearly-flat carving of a grim, bearded monarch in ruby that was set in the metal. Like the Earth Key, though, the bottom was strangely complex, fit for a unique lock. Ryu carefully placed it in his pocket, though he felt it was much stronger than it looked.

"Uh... thanks. But how did you know my name?" At this, the Wisp laughed.

"Ha ha ha! I have my sources, Light Dragon warrior. But for now, you have more important things to take care of... as do I. Farewell!" Winking, the Wisp faded out again.

"Well, that was wierd." Nina commented. Bo nodded.

"Agreed. But hey, we got the Key!" He suddenly realized something and groaned. "And now we have to go back down... across all those lifts again..."

"Seems that way." Ryu observed the locked door. "Like I said before, we're not getting through this, whatever it's for. It's probably not our problem anyways. We got what we came here for." As it turned out, the trip back down was slightly more eventful; a pair of marauding Orc Clanners had boarded to look for treasure. The flabby orange pig-men were able to open up a nice cut on Bo's arm before they were taken down, and although Nina was able to heal it, it didn't improve his mood. When they exited the floating island, though, he sighed and smiled.

"I just hope we never have to come back here."

"I don't see why we would." Ryu said as he took the Tablet out. The three heroes watched as Agua slowly gained altitude and went back up into the sky. "Removed from the world again... shall we head back to Romero?"

It was one week later when the three approached the Stone Robot. They had simply gone there straight from Romero instead of stopping at the twin towns. Now that they were this close, Ryu saw how big the Robot really was. Constructed apparently of yellow bricks on the outside, it was hundreds of feet tall; just one of its own feet was three times as tall as Ryu. The left foot, to be precise, which also had a door built into it. The robot was obviously constructed to resemble a human, but a very bulky one, perhaps wearing heavy armor. The head had no face save one huge blue glassy orb.

"There's passages inside." Bo explained, opening the door to demonstrate. It creaked open noisily, and a clod of rust fell. "Hasn't been used in decades... nothing to see here anymore."

"We'd better keep it quiet. Scumbags not too far off." Ryu muttered, pointing to the south, where tents could be seen. "We can wipe 'em once this thing's active, but until then, best not take any chances." The other two nodded, and they entered the Stone Robot silently. Inside, the stone was dull and grey; lighter on the walls, darker on the floor and ceiling. More interesting, and confusing, was that all surfaces were strangely carved to resemble, Ryu thought, creeping vines covering it all. "Watch your step, Bo. Nina, don't fly too high." Cautiously, they moved to a set of stairs and climbed up. Several more rooms like it, one on top of the other, formed the right leg, and then a larger one as they moved into the torso. When they moved into the chest level of the Robot, they found the room had a large altar. Unusually thick stone "vines" were in this room, the thickest of which ran into what was on the alter; a huge statue of a heart. A monolithic slab exactly like the one that had held the Earth Key stood in front of it. Nina gagged.

"Those aren't vines... they're veins!"

"Very perceptive, your highness." A mocking voice congratulated her. From behind the slab, three Dark Dragon soldiers walked out; two archers and a General. "This Stone Robot is truly a work of art... so much ancient magic and technology combined in it, in way which we here today could never understand. But then again, we need not understand something to wield it, correct, sir Ryu?"

"Who are you?" The Light Dragon warrior demanded as Nina began muttering something.

"My name is General Graham. I understand that you killed my predecessor, Folage." Graham clapped. "I must thank you for that... but nevertheless, I must also demand that you turn over both Goddess Keys immediately. Yes, both, the Earth AND King Keys. I know you have that second one, so don't even bother trying to deny it."

"...Uh-huh." Bo threw back his head and laughed. "You... and two of your sad excuses for archers. Wait, whoops..." There were a flash of green sparkles, his hands flickered, and one archer was pierced by multiple arrows. The other turned to gape at him, and moments later, went down with Nina's rapier through him. "Sorry. Make that just you. So... still care to make threats?" Graham's face went livid, and he cursed and jumped backward off the altar.

"You haven't seen the last of this!"

"Hm... smarter than Folage. You actually know when you're outmatched." Ryu observed. "However, you seem to think you have a chance of escaping. I'm afraid you're wrong on that count... sorely."

"Really?" Suddenly drawing his heavy blade, Graham threw it, spinning lengthwise at them, and they were forced to duck and cover. When they looked up, the General was already gone, his footsteps echoing down the stairway. Ryu started to follow him, but was stopped by Nina.

"No, Ryu. Let him go. We'll never catch him, and we have to wake this thing up before he returns with the army." Ryu glared at her for a moment, then turned to the stone slab. Without a word, he produced the King Key, and inserted it in a hole in the center of the block. as he turned it, everything began shaking, and the giant stone heart turned pink and began beating, pumping some kind of liquid that could not possibly have been blood through the veins. Bo frowned.

"Heat... that stuff's lava! What IS this thing?"

"STONE ROBOT... REACTIVATED..." A voice like boulders grinding came from somewhere far above them. "MOVE TO BRAIN... TO ISSUE COMMANDS..." A glass orb set in the floor below them began glowing. Ryu blinked.

"Hey, I've seen one of these before... they're teleporters. This one probably goes straight to the brain." He stepped on it and vanished. Nina and Bo looked at each other, then shrugged.

"What the hell. Nothing ventured..." Following Ryu, they appeared in a small room. Another altar, another slab, but nothing behind it but a wall.

"INPUT COMMAND..."

"Robot, could you please take us to the lake?" Nina asked politely.

"You need to go south of here until you see the dry riverbed, then you go west until it turns north. Then follow it up there to the lake!" Ryu followed up.

"COMMENCING..." There was a great deal of shaking, as for the first time in centuries, the Stone Robot moved. Ancient legs bent and straightened, taking huge steps to the south. There were a great many screams from what it walked over, but it did not hear, or perhaps it did not care. Either way, it followed their instructions to the letter, stopping right in front of the barricade. Bo smiled, his ears standing straight up.

"Yes! Robot, please destroy the barricade!"

"...DESTROY?" The Robot seemed hesitant. "ARE YOU... SURE?"

"Yes." Bo affirmed. "Those rocks are blocking the river... they water shortage is endangering my people's lives. We need the water to live."  
"...VERY WELL." There was a crackling noise from beyond the slab. Unknown to them, the single eye was glowing. A moment later, it discharged a beam of energy straight into the barricade. The noise was colossal. All three of them fell to the floor, covering their ears. It was several minutes before it stopped, and was replaced by another sound. Rushing water. Bo stood up, exuberant.

"We... did it! WE DID IT!" He threw back his head and howled. Laughing, Ryu and Nina grinned at him.

"Yes! Now we can return to the village!" Nina exclaimed. Ryu grinned as well, but his was more evil.

"AND, unless I'm mistaken, that course I set the Robot on took him right across the Dark Dragon camp." He made a squishing noise. Nina shuddered, but Bo smiled.

"Good... we're free of them as well, then."

"Seems that way." Ryu nodded. "Come on, let's get back to the towns. Maybe there'll be a party!" The three of them left.

None of them realized that they had made a dreadful error...

"Bo! Hey, Bo!" A Forest Clanner ran out of Tantar to greet the three as they approached. Bo grinned and dashed forward.

"Terry, you old hound! What are you doing out of bed?"

"I'm healed, Bo! Completely!" Terry laughed. "I even nailed a few more Dark Dragon soldiers before you guys mopped them up! Man, that was great! And you unblocked the river, and I'm getting married! What more could go right?"

"Well, there is... wait." Ryu blinked. "Married!"

"Yup!" Terry said proudly. "Me and Amelia were going to get married a while back, actually, but the Dark Dragons messed everything up. Now that they're history, we're partying!" He suddenly had a thought, and bowed to Ryu and Nina. "Sir Ryu... Princess Nina... thank you. You and Bo saved us all!" Ryu smiled and clasped his shoulder.

"If you want to thank us, let us attend the wedding!" He noticed Terry wincing. "Oops... sorry. That's where you got injured, right?"

"Ah, it's nothing!" The young Forest Clanner laughed. "And of course you two are invited! You're the guests of honor! And Bo... would you do me the honor of being my best man?"

"Nothing would make me happier, Ter." Bo nodded. "So, what are we waiting for? Everybody's got to be waiting on US, so let's go!"

The path through Tantar was completely changed; the dry soil now sprung with life every bit as green as Romero's was. The sunset reflected off the sparkling blue river as they walked around it to the Dragon Shrine. Inside, all the residents of both villages, Tantar and Tuntar, were gathered indiscriminately. All had come for the same reason. Ryu's eye caught Chief Lupin waving to him near the front, and he and Nina joined the old Forest Clanner. An old priest with wispy blue-white hair coughed.

"Everybody is here now? Good... we may begin." Terry walked down the aisle, looking nervous but happy in a green doublet. Bo was next to him, whispering words of encouragement. After Terry stood at the alter, musicians began playing an ancient melody as Amelia entered on Chief Bart's arm, radiant in a beautiful white dress. An odd sound caught Ryu's eye, and he turned to see Nina rubbing her eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"Of course not." She whispered. "And don't talk!" Ryu shrugged and watched as the old priest began reciting from the _Book of Ladon._

"We are here to join Terry of the Forest Clan and Amelia of the humans. It is the wish of the Dragon God, Ladon, that you have a long, happy life together..."

At some point in the ceremony, Ryu must have dozed off, for the next thing he knew, the two were kissing, and everybody was cheering, and his shin hurt. "Ow! Nina, what-"

"Shut up and be happy!" She hissed. Ryu gave up and started clapping. The bridesmaids took up positions flanking the couple and began dancing wildly. At that point, everything broke down. Whooping and hollering, the townspeople charged outside, Bo at their head.

"PARTY! It's party time!" Nina shook her head.

"Let's just hope he doesn't get loaded..."

"I thought that was a wedding tradition!" Ryu joked.

"Har har."

"Actually, he might be right." Chief Bart grinned. He and Lupin were the only ones left in the Shrine aside from Ryu and Nina. "I know I plan on toasting my daughter and son-in-law a few times. What's the point of partying otherwise? But anyways... I take it you two will be leaving us soon?"

"I'm afraid so, your grace." Ryu nodded. "Our work here is done... the Dark Dragons in this area are all dead, and all your people are saved. We've still got business with the Dark Dragons, though."

"I think Bo will come with you." Lupin predicted. "He likes you two, I can tell... and I think he still wants to settle things with the Dark Dragons more as well. Will you..."

"Why not?" Ryu sighed, then grinned. "Actually, we'll be happy to. Bo's been a great help already. If he wants to continue helping us kick Dark Dragon tail, all the better, right, Nina?" The Princess nodded.

"Yeah. No problem at all." Lupin shook Ryu's hand.

"Thank you. You should be able to have the Stone Robot take you across the river. It's all mountains south of there, though, so he won't be able to go on. Look for a large cave on the south side... it's a tunnel that will take you to the city of Auria. Rumor has it the Dark Dragons are looking for a third Goddess Key in the area." Ryu's eyes brightened.

"Well, we'll just have to get that one fir... wait." He held up a hand. "Everybody, quiet! Listen!" Outside, the howls of glee had been replaced by something quite different. Screams of terror. Bo ran inside, his face bleak.

"Ryu, Nina, get out here! We've got trouble... BIG trouble!"

"But the Stone Robot killed all the Dark Dragons..." Nina began, then fell silent in horror. Against the blood-red sunset sky, the Stone Robot loomed over Tuntar on the other side of the river.

"Almost all." Ryu growled, eyes flat with rage. "General Graham. It has to be. He snuck aboard the Stone Robot while we were occupied here, and now..."

"COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED." The Robot boomed. Its eye began glowing, and it released a massive blast of energy straight at the empty town of Tuntar. For a moment, none could see... and then, all that was left of Tuntar was a crater.

"Ladon..." Nina choked. "What power... that's what Goddess Keys do!" Ryu shook his head.

"That's only a secondary function... their true power is much worse. But Graham still has the key... and it's still enough to wipe us out..." The Stone Robot's head shifted towards Tantar. "Dammit, I think this is it..."

"COMMAND... ACK... NO... NO... NO..." The glow in the Robot's eye faded, and its movement ground to a halt. Bo slowly opened his eyes; he had shut them a moment before.

"Look... it stopped! But why?"

"That's not important!" Ryu growled, breaking into a run. "What's important is, now we can stop him! Come on! We've got to get to that thing's brain before it starts up again!"

"WHAT is going on here!" General Graham shrieked. "I gave you a direct order! Destroy the other town! Do it!" The Robot remained silent. "What do you want? Should I say 'Simon Says'! Move! Attack! Do SOMETHING!" The Robot was still motionless. "What is WRONG with you? What is your problem? Say something, already!"

"I think you've got a lot more problems than an unresponsive Robot, General Graham." An angry voice challenged him as Ryu stepped off the teleporter, followed by Nina and Bo. "Consider yourself lucky that there was nobody in Tuntar at the time. As it is, you're not leaving here alive this time."

"Oh, is that so?" Graham sneered. "Let me tell you something. I could have killed all of you quite easily the first time we met. Why didn't I, you may ask? Simple. As I was about to, I realized you would probably leave the King Key here if I let you, so I could wipe out the villages-and you-with the Robot, not even bleeding! Shame it didn't work... now I will have to deal with you personally!"

"Oh, is that so?" Bo snorted. "Tell me, how do you expect to kill us so easily when you don't even have your sword?" Graham smiled crookedly.

"Oh, poor, stupid Forest Clanner. I don't need my sword. It's time for you all to learn the difference between fools like Terrack and Folage, and people like me. It'll be your LAST lesson, I'm afraid!" Before any of them could move, he began swelling and expanding like a bloated tick. His skin turned green and scaly, and his body bulked up, becoming hugely muscular. His ears shifted back and became bestial and pointed while his forehead jutted and his mouth widened. When the change was complete, something very big, very nasty, and entirely unhuman glared at them from baleful golden eyes.

"What... what..." Nina stammered. Ryu shook himself.

"Some kind of... Gremlin! But it still bleeds! Take him down!" Nina nodded and began coating all of them with yellow sparkles while Ryu hacked at its leg and Bo tried to get a shot at the eye. The Gremlin chuckled.

"Cute... but ineffective." Drawing back a foot, it kicked Ryu like a soccer ball. He went flying across the room. Bo cursed; his arrows weren't doing jack either.

"Nina! Give Ryu that attack-up... it's his only chance of slicing through that hide!" The Princess nodded and changed her words.

"And just what do YOU plan to do, hmm?" The Gremlin growled, lumbering towards Bo.  
"Same thing I did for Folage." Bo flexed his arm, and an ice spell caught the Gremlin full in the face. Stumbling back, the Gremlin shook his head.

"Oof... that was unpleasant. But not nearly enough, pup!"

"Maybe you'll like this better then!" Ryu yelled, darting in behind the Gremlin. Before the surprised brute could move, he had sliced into its thigh, going for the hamstring. He didn't get it, but the Gremlin's howl was satisfying nonetheless.

"You little-!" It reached for him, but he jumped away. Snarling, the Gremlin lumbered after the Light Dragon, leaving its wound exposed to Bo, who lashed it with lightning. Again the Gremlin howled.

"Is my magic still 'unpleasant', big guy?" Bo snickered.

"I'll tell you after I make a bow out of your spine and arrows from your ribs!" The Gremlin turned on him, and Ryu opened up another cut on its flank. Screaming, it whirled, and Bo pumped a fireball into this wound as well.

"There you go, you... crud. Ryu, hold him off for a moment!" Falling back, Bo began searching through his pockets for something. Ryu cursed as the Gremlin grinned nastily.

"Dammit... fine time to lose your keys! Guess I'll have to go the gung-ho approach... YAH!" Charging forward, he leaped into the Gremlin's grasp and began hacking at its chest with wild abandon even as its claws found him. Caught aback, it was only able to slash at him for a few seconds before it was knocked back and over by the ferocity of the attack. Panting, Ryu stood up, dripping blood as the last of blue sparkles around him faded.

"There. We've all got the works now." Nina told him. "Attack power, endurance and speed are all up."

"And I've got more spells ready." Bo confirmed. Ryu groaned as the Gremlin began to rise.

"Good... because I think we just pissed him off!" Shrieking, the beast forced itself to its feet and turned to glare at them, eyes devoid of all intelligence. With another mindless shriek, it dashed forward, crouched before them, and opened its gaping maw wider than should be possible to spew out endless waves of golden flames that filled nearly the entire room.

"What's it doing!" Nina yelled.

"I don't know, but we're all barbecue if it keeps it up!" Bo called back.

"If I can just get one good hit..." Ryu was muttering. Nina had a thought.

"One good hit, eh? Right, Bo, hold an ice spell ready. And hope this works...!" Pulling her rapier, she cast it in a smooth underhand throw like she had done with the Wizard of Karma, straight into the Gremlin's mouth. The flames cut off, and it raised its head, choking, mouth still open. Taking the cue, Bo released the ice, and like the rapier, and went straight into the Gremlin's maw. Now it was almost staggering around, clutching at its throat, as Ryu ran forward.

"End of the line... General!" He leaped up, jumped off the Gremlin's knee, rebounded off its shoulder and went for the neck. The beast stared at him for just a moment before his blade went through. The Gremlin's head sailed across the room and hit the wall with a disgusting splat. For a moment, it looked as if the body was going to fight on... but then it collapsed to the ground, even as the golden light in the Gremlin's eyes died.

"Well, that's another General on our kill list." Bo put away his weapon. "NOW the Dark Dragons are gone from my people's lands." Suddenly, the room started shaking. Nina blinked.

"Hey! It's moving! The Stone Robot's walking!" Ryu and Bo exchanged nervous glances; was the Stone Robot now carrying out Graham's last order?

"LEAVE..."

"Huh?" Ryu frowned.

"LEAVE... NOW..."

"What does it..." Bo started to say, then stopped himself. "Whatever... I don't think it's going for Tantar. Do what it says." Taking the teleporter back, they quickly ran down the right leg and exited through the door; the Robot stopped walking so they were not stepped on. "Hey, we're down at the southern border... right north of the river, near the volcanoes!"

"Wow..." Ryu shielded his eyes, looking at the fire-topped mountains. "So that's what a volcano looks like... the crater on that one looks like it's big enough to fit the Robot!" He suddenly went pale. "Wait... you don't think it's..."

"It's walking up the volcano!" Nina exclaimed. The Robot neared the top, then stopped and turned its head to look at Ryu. His eyes widened. "What... what is it?"

"I don't know..." The Light Dragon whispered. "I don't know how, but... I'm seeing things... this Robot was built for one purpose only. War. Ever since it was brought into this world, it saw nothing but death and destruction... then the Dragon War ended, and it could sleep. But then Graham came along, and made it wreck Tuntar... and it couldn't do any more. The Stone Robot... doesn't want to do anything else. It doesn't want to hurt anything else... it thinks it's done too much already. It just wants to... rest. Forever." Nina and Bo bowed her heads.

"Its entire life... nothing but killing and destroying?" The Princess wiped her eyes. "I'm... sorry..." Though there was no possible way it could have heard here, the Robot turned its eye on her for a moment. Then it turned back to the volcano, and took one more step forward. As it plunged into the crater, a huge mass of lava was displaced, and came boiling down the side of the mountain. Over the rushing noise, one last message could be heard.

"THANK... YOU... GOOD... BYE..." And then it was gone. The lava poured into the part of the river that turned east, and through a massive amount of steam, hardened. When the steam cleared, the hardened lava filled the riverbed fully.

"Wow... indeed." Ryu whispered. "We can use this to get across once it cools..."

"But won't the river back up and flood?" Nina worried. Bo shook his head.

"No... it looks like the river just turns east, but it really forks; straight ahead, it just goes underground into the mountains. It'll keep going." He frowned. "What I'm wondering is... why did it... say that? To us?"

"Because..." Ryu looked at the volcano. There was nothing remaining of the Stone Robot left showing. "Because what we asked it to do... that was the only time it was ever used to save lives, instead of taking them." He looked around. "We'd better head back to Tantar... everybody will want to know what happened. And I don't know about you two, but I could definately use a hot bath and a soft bed."

"Amen to THAT..." Nina nodded. Bo did as well.

"And tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow..." Ryu bent over and picked something off of the top of the lava bed. It was the King Key, completely undamaged. "Tomorrow, we go south."


	7. Chapter 6: To Catch A Thief

**__**

Chapter 6: To Catch A Thief

"So, the Dragon Shrine's just down here?" Ryu asked as the three adventurers crossed the lava blockage. Bo nodded.

"Yeah... soon as I saw that paper of yours I recognized the description of the place. See that clump of trees over there? Other side of that's the place. Don't know what you'll find there, but..." He shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked as they rounded the clump. "I'll... find..." He stopped talking. The Dragon Shrine in front of him was nothing like the image of beauty and geandeur he had always imagined from Sara's stories. Once, it might have been... but no more. The building was an enlarged dome built along the same designs as the common Temple, with a towering spire on top... but the roof had holes, the pillars in front were mostly broken off, and the white marble was a dull grey.  
"You... didn't know?" Bo asked quietly. "It's been like this as long as our Clan can remember."

"No..." Ryu shook his head in shock. "No, this can't be it... this isn't the Dragon Shrine I need..."

"I'm afraid it is, young man." An old man walked out of the Shrine's front door. He was wearing robes that were whiter than the marble, and had a snowy beard of the same color. An emerald pendant was his only concession to vanity, or perhaps it was for another reason. He bowed slightly. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Melchior, High Priest of Ladon." Straightening, he examined Ryu keenly. "You'd be Ryu, then... Gaspar's other grand-nephew. Sara's sister."

"You knew my sister?" Ryu asked, momentarily forgetting his surprise. Melchior smiled and nodded.

"Of course... met her when she came through here, five years ago. She told me her little brother would be coming himself around this time... little earlier than I expected, but it should be fine."

"Your holiness..." Ryu looked around in disbelief. "What happened here? To this place?"

"Time happened, Ryu." Melchior sighed. "Time, and the need to make the outside world forget about us... if I truly wished to do so, I could have made this place a beacon of holiness that the entire world would see. But if I did... then the entire world WOULD see, and that cannot be our way any more. A lesson that, unfortunately, not all factions of our Clan believe in..." He frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "But oh well, now is not the time for discussing such things. You came here for a reason, Ryu... shall we get to it?"

"Sounds like a plan." Bo nodded and started forward, then stopped as Melchior held out a hand.

"Ah... I'm sorry, but only Dragon Clan may enter here..." The High Priest said regretfully. "Ladon's decree."

"It'll be all right." Ryu assured his friends. "Just camp here, all right? I shouldn't be too long, and we can get going towards the south tomorrow."

"Well... all right." Nina smiled. "If whatever this is will help you thrash Dark Dragons, go ahead. But we'll want an explanation when you get back!"

"All right, all right..." Waving, Ryu followed Melchior inside the Dragon Shrine. The main portion of it was a hallway, with a door on either side halfway down. Ryu didn't inquire about either; he simply followed the High Priest to the end. There, on a raised level, was a statue of Ladon... but even as Ryu approached, it shimmered and became the familiar spirit of the Dragon God.

"Huh?" Ryu blinked. "But I'm not asleep... am I?" Ladon threw back his head and laughed.

"No, Ryu... for this, I appear personally before all Dragons. Which you are certainly not. Are you prepared for the test?"

"I am, your holiness." Ryu nodded. "What must I do?"

"Combat, Ryu, against one who attempted this and failed." Ladon's smile vanished. "And if you lose, you shall become like him."

"If I let fear govern my actions, I never would have left Drogen." Ryu drew his sword. "I'm ready, your holiness. Bring forth your challenger." Ladon nodded in approval towards Melchior, who raised a hand.

"As you wish! Come, Talon!" A blob of darkness appeared over the High Priest's head, and out from it with flapping wings flew a hideous gargoyle. Grey and purple reptilian skin covered a thing that seemed to be all ripping claws, curved beak and batlike wings on a lanky frame.

"Talon's your name, huh?" Ryu swung his sword, clipping a lower claw. "Well, nothing personal, but looks like you won't be needing it after today!" Shrieking, Talon returned the sentiment by diving downwards, clawing at Ryu's face. The Light Dragon attempted to block it with his shield, remembered that he didn't HAVE a shield anymore, and cursed as the claws closed on his raised arm. Beating at Talon with his sword made the gargoyle retreat, hissing, but red marks all down his arm still bled. Cursing, Ryu moved forward on the attack. Talon simply flew up over him and came down on Ryu's back. Fortunately, the Light Dragon had been expecting this, and he whirled quickly, slicing open a gash on Talon's chest. Howling, the beast retreated into the air, then dived down like a hawk, closing with Ryu up close. Ryu began hacking wildly with his sword, even as he felt the gargoyle's claws rip into him again and again. They were too close now; both knew if they tried to retreat, the other would finish them. Blood poured out and coated the floor; it seemed the slashing and gouging would go on forever. Finally, one form collapsed with a hissing sigh, never to move again. Ryu leaned on his sword and winced.

"Sorry... looks like I did a number on the floor..."

"No, no, that's quite all right." Melchior laughed. "I'll clean it up... this place doesn't have to be in THAT bad shape."

"All right." Ryu smiled. "So, when do I... whoa!" He straightened up, eyes blazing.

"Right now." Ladon smiled as he watched the young Light Dragon transform. Ryu hunched over, then howled as his skin became pale, almost white-blue scales. His arms and legs shifted positions slightly and grew claws, and batlike wings sproted from his back. His face bulged outward, becoming an almost beaklike snout filled with sharp fangs, and a pair of horn sprouted from the back of his head. Its form was round and its eyes cute, but it was obviously very dangerous. Stretching his long neck upwards, the Dragon Whelp howled, releasing a blast of frigid air towards the spire at the top of the Shrine. He then turned back to the Dragon God and High Priest and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry... couldn't resist."

"It can be a bit of a rush." Melchior admitted, remembering his own pilgrimage. "The Ice Whelp, I see. Interesting."

"What's so interesting about it?" Ryu stretched his head around to inspect his wings.

"Well, you see... you will be able to assume three Whelp forms. Fire, Ice, and Lighting." Melchior explained. "Whichever of these a Dragon Clanner assumes at first after completing the trial... reflects the state of his soul at the time."

"Huh..." Ryu blinked. "Oh, that reminds me. Talon... was he a Light Dragon? Before, I mean..."

"No, he was a Dark Dragon." Melchior replied. "Why?" Ryu smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"Good. I would have felt bad about killing a Light Dragon." Melchior and Ladon exchanged a glance.

"Ice, indeed..." Melchior shook his head. "Glad I'm not a Dark Dragon."

"He'll change." Ladon assured him. "Well then, Ryu. There is one more thing you should know. You can revert to your normal form at any time... but afterwards, you will be quite fatigued, and will likely not be able to do much until you get some rest. This will lessen eventually, but right now... well, be careful."

"Gotcha." Ryu nodded. Ladon smiled, then returned to being a statue. Melchior handed the Ice Whelp a slip of paper. "What's this?"

"The directions for the next Shrine, of course." Melchior explained. "Would you like a drink of Water of Life? There's a spring in the west room..."

"No, thanks." Ryu shook his head. "I should go out and see how the others are doing."

"Doubtless rather surprised by your little display through the windows in the spire." Melchior joked as he accompanied Ryu out. The Ice Whelp winced.

"There are windows up there? Whoops..."

"Okay, what's going on here?" Nina yelled as soon as she saw somebody start to emerge. "Ryu, you-AH!" She flew into the air, startled, upon seeing the Ice Whelp.

"Chill, guys. It's me." Ryu smiled, then looked at Bo. "Put the arrow down, already. It's not neccessary."

"And how was I supposed to know that?" The Forest Clanner asked, dropping the weapon. "All right, you done in there?" Ryu nodded. "Good. Then come on, the campfire's cooking dinner. And we REALLY need an explanation now."

"All right, all right..." Ryu sighed, grabbing something meaty that smelled good off a roasting spit. "We're called the Dragon Clan. What most people think of when they hear the word 'dragon' is a big flying reptile like this." He indicated himself, then shrugged. "Well, maybe not so much the big part yet. Anyways, how it goes is when we turn eighteen, those of us who want to go on a pilgrimage to Ladon across the world. There are three Shrines that have to be visited in order. At each one, there is a test... completing it will unlock the power of the Dragon. Basically, being able to turn into big flying reptiles. Presumably, the next shrine will give me stronger forms... and the third, to the ones that make it that far, unlocks their true, unique dragon. If you do THAT, you're either a Priest or Priestess of Ladon."

"Wait." Bo blinked. "So that old guy who performed Terry and Amelia's wedding..."

"Could probably have wasted the entire town in his youth." Ryu nodded. "Yeah. I'm not anywhere near that state yet... got a couple more to visit first. Matter of fact, the old guy gave me some directions to the next. Let's take a look here..." Opening the slip of paper, he read it aloud.

__

On the tip of the Builder's Horn,

Southwest of demon bird pines,

Look carefully for the second of

The great and mighty Dragon Shrines.

"I don't suppose you know where this place is either?" Nina asked Bo hopefully. The Forest Clanner shook his head.

"Afraid not... no clue. That bit about the Builder's Horn makes me think it might be in the Builder Clan lands, but I can't think of much else."

"Well, it's not like we need it right away." Ryu grinned, looking at his claws. "This may not be town-wrecking level, but I'd hate to be the next Dark Dragon we run into."

"I don't know... I think it's kind of cute." Nina smiled mischeviously and began scratching the Ice Whelp's chin.

"Hey, what... oh. Oh." Ryu stopped protesting and closed his eyes. Nina giggled and used her other hand to scratch his horns, and Ryu actually smiled, leaning slightly back. Bo coughed.

"Look, you two... could you at least wait until I'm asleep before starting this kind of thing?" THAT brought an end to it; Ryu and Nina instantly seperated, the Wing Clan princess blushing.

"I'd, ah... I'd better change back." Ryu said, his scales darkening slightly as well. He concentrated, and the Ice Whelp shrank, becoming the familiar Light Dragon youth. He immediately slumped onto the ground. "Whoa... ugh. They weren't kidding... that packs a punch. Whew."

"You okay?" Nina asked, concerned. Ryu waved her down.

"Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure... just some exhaustion. It's customary."

"Yeah... we should be thankful whoever designed that transformation put clothes into the formula too." Bo grunted. "That could have gone badly otherwise... although some people might think differently."

"Enough, already." Nina rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get some sleep, then. Even using the Cape Tunnel under the mountains, it's a bit of a hike to Auria on the other side."

"All right, we turn left here." Bo directed them through the Cape Tunnel. "We're just about there."

"What happens if we went straight?" Ryu asked. "Dead end?"

"Recently, yes." Bo nodded. "Used to go to a nice little inlet, but the way caved in. Shame. Ah, here we are..." They emerged out into the light of day, and Ryu stopped in his tracks, staring. Auria was a city famed the world over for its vast wealth. The entire city was surrounded by a high wall, with soldiers in red uniforms patrolling it at all times. Aside from the docks on the west side, there was only one entrance. Inside, however, the buildings and even the streets themselves were all covered with beaten gold. The entire city was one huge, shimmering monument to money.  
"Gross, isn't it?" Bo made a face. "Gives the word ostentatious an entirely new meaning. They have to repaint it all the time, too."

"Paint?" Ryu blinked, and Nina laughed.

"What, you thought it was REAL? There's not enough gold in the entire world for THAT. High Merchant Ross' house MIGHT be, but I doubt it... don't tell him I said that, though." As they drifted into the city, they were immediately accosted by a square-jawed guard with heavy eyebrows.

"Hold it! Stop right there. I haven't seen you folks around here before."

"We're new to this city." Ryu tried to explain, but the guard cut him off.

"New, eh? Right, you're coming down to the station with us!" Before they could make a break for it, several more soldiers were there. The travelers were forced down to a station in the center of the city, where they were tossed into a barred cell in the basement. The soldier who had arrested them fixed the lock, then smiled. "Right then, you can think about what exactly you were intending to do here for a while. When I come back, I'll have some questions about that, and I'd better like the answers." He left them, laughing.

"Well, this is just great." Ryu sighed, slumping to the floor. "Now what? If I go Dragon and bust us out, the noise'll bring every guard in the city..."

"Hey, could you keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep here!" None of them had seen the cell's other inhabitant sleeping on a cot. He was a youth who looked about fifteen, with short, curly hair and banana-yellow clothes. He looked like an average human, but strangely, his skin tone was much darker than any of them had ever seen. Now awake, he yawned. "So, what you folks in for, anyways?"

"Apparently, entering the city." Bo growled. The youth laughed.

"Bet it was Captain Gata who got you. He's the head of the city guard, and uber-paranoid. Even down in Bleak, the town of thieves, he's a legendary nightmare."

"That bad?" Bo winced. The inmate nodded solemnly.

"They say nobody's EVER successfully bribed him... and that's in THIS city."

"That IS scary." Nina shuddered.

"Yeah... he's proud of it, though. No one calls him Captain, though... everybody puts 'Zenny' in front of his name to tease him about his antibribery."

"Captain 'Zenny' Gata, huh." Ryu shook his head. "Well, he got us. We're stuck here."

"You kidding?" The youth laughed. "I can get you guys out of here, no problem." Jumping over to the lock, he probed at it with the point of a dagger for a few moments, then leaped back onto the cot as the door swung open. "There you go. Try not to let them see you on the way out." He was instantly asleep again. The three travelers exchanged a puzzled glance, then as one, shrugged and left the building.

"So, where to first?" Ryu asked. Nina smiled.

"Follow me." She led them towards the back of the town, past one horribly overdecorated house after another, until they came to the largest one of all in the very back. On top of it, a long, tall tower rose; and atop the tower was a light so bright none of them could look at it.

"The Light Tower... resting place of the Light Key." Bo explained grimly. 'And no, boss, we can't just go up there and take it. The only way in is a secret passage inside this house that only the High Merchant knows."

"Excuse me, sirs... madame." A tough-looking butler greeted them as they entered. "Do you have business with High Merchant Ross? If not, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Will this do?" Nina asked, holding up a letter. The butler read it, then straightened up and bowed sharply.

"Excuse me! High Merchant Ross will be informed of your arrival immediately!"

"Very nice." Bo muttered. "Royalty has its advantages, I see."

"Shh." Nina hushed him, and they waited until they were ushered into a beautiful garden in the back. An old, rather fat man wearing rich purple robes and a golden turban was lounging on a hammock.

"Ah, there you are." He dismissed the butlers, then waved at them to take a seat. "Princess Nina, it has been too long."

"Likewise, old friend." Nina smiled. "We really should get together more often." Ross nodded graciously.

"My doors are open to you whenever you wish." He paused. "Do you think that satisfies the tedious formalities?"

"If not, we can always lie about it later." Nina giggled, then became serious. "We're here on business, your grace."  
"I suspected as much." Ross nodded. "I've heard the stories. Congratulations on routing the Dark Dragons from the northwest, all of you." He sighed. "Unfortunately, things are not going quite as well here."

"Dark Dragons?" Ryu's eyes narrowed, and Ross shook his head quickly.

"No, no... a much more personal problem. There's a vault underneath my house... it's where I keep my most valuable treasures. And, well..." His voice lowered. "My daughter... seems to have locked herself in there."

"Aw, hell." Ryu groaned. Ross nodded.

"Fortunately, there are holes for air... large enough for us to push food and water through too. However... we have yet to find a way to get her out. She has the only key in there with her, and it only opens from the outside."  
"How thick is the door?" Ryu asked.

"Twenty feet, solid iron."

"Damn." He thought for a moment. "Hm... it sounds like you need a thief. Somebody who opens things like that for a living, and is very good at it."

"Bleak." Bo snapped his fingers. "The town of Bleak. There's got to be somebody there who can do the job."

"Thank you..." Ross smiled. "I hate to ask, but could you go there? If you can rescue my daughter, anything in my power... it's yours."

"On those terms, how can we refuse?" Ryu smiled. "As a matter of fact, there's-" He stopped as Nina gently kicked his shin. "There's... the matter of a ship. When we move on from here, we'll need one."

"I have just the one." Ross nodded. "A new ship commanded by the best captain in the city."

"All right, then." Ryu nodded. "We'll be going to Bleak tomorrow, then."

"Until then, you have the hospitality of my house." Ross smiled. "I'm afraid that night isn't really a thing around here any more, with the Light Key... we just sleep whenever we're tired."  
"We'll do that, then." Ryu nodded. "Thank you again, your grace."

"Any friends of Nina's are friends of mine." Ross assured them.

After sleeping, the heroes went down into the city, on a shopping trip. Bo glanced sidelong at Nina once they were clear of Ross's house.

"Why didn't you want to talk about the Light Key?"

"There's something up with our friend Ross." Nina explained. "He's not telling us everything about that problem with the safe. The Light Key would be a touchy subject here already... the people of this city worship it almost as much as they do Ladon."

"So it makes it so that it never gets dark around here?" Ryu shook his head. "That's got to be wierd. Can't imagine ever getting used to that. Hey, check that out." The building he was pointing at had a bust of a Maniro's head above the door. The Maniro, a Clan of fish people, were to a man a merchant species, fascinated with commerce and profit. Their city under the ocean, Prima, boasted that if they didn't have something for sale, it was only because the guy who refused to sell it to THEM was certifiably insane. "They should have some good stuff. Let's check it out." Inside, two of the Maniro clan were standing behind the shop counter, grinning widely. One was green and slim, the other orange and fat.

"Ah, hello, friends." The green one winked. "I'm Nuzi, and this is my cousin, Gobi. Anything we can help you with today?"

"Well..." Ryu pointed at a fishing rod behind the Maniros. "Could I see that? It looks like a good one."

"Absolutely, sir!" Nuzi handed it to him. "Here!"

"Yeah... been a while since I held one of these, but it'll do fine." Ryu assessed, weighing the rod in his hands.

"You fish, huh?" Bo blinked. "Didn't know that. Hm... maybe I should pick up a better bow for hunting, at that thought..."

"Look no further, sir!" Gobi handed him one. "What do you think of that? Professional longbow, of the type commonly used to defend castles!"

"Not bad at all." Bo nodded approvingly. "This and the rod should keep us in food all the way to Bleak fine."

"Going to Bleak, good sirs?" Nuzi grabbed something else. "Then you'll need this, absolutely!" He was holding a wallet. Before any of them could comment, he opened it, revealing that inside was a complex mechanism. "Anybody who grabs it without pressing the bottom, it opens and grabs their hands! The other string ties to a button to keep them from going anywhere! Perfect for prevention against pickpockets and thieves!"

"Now THAT's a good idea for Bleak." Nina nodded. "We'll take one of those, too."

"Buying so much, why not go all the way?" Gobi continued greedily, whisking a cloth off of... a stack of gold bars. "Look at these babies! Only sixty-five thousand Zenny each!" They all stared.

"Uh... no thanks." Ryu shook his head. "We'll... just call it here, thanks." Shooting his cousin a dirty look, Nuzi rang up the bill.

"It'll be five thousand, four hundred and... sixty for the rod, bow and pouch."

"Right." Ryu paid the Maniros. "Thanks, guys. We'll stop by again some time." They walked out, and headed for the exit.

"So, to Bleak?" Bo asked. Ryu nodded.

"To Bleak."

"Hey, you!" A loud yell drew all their attention to Zenny Gata, who was staring at them. "I just locked you all up yesterday! Get back here!"

"Run for it, boys!" Nina yelled, and they dashed for the exit, Zenny Gata howling in pursuit behind them.

Some time after Ryu and his friends had left Auria, a ship drifted up to the docks. Its sails bore a black dragon emblem upon them, and on its side was the name _Quincunx_. The guards at the dock carefully averted their eyes from it, as they had been paid to do. The ship came to a halt and rested, with no apparent activity. An observer with a keen eye might have detected a flash of movement here or there, but that would be gone almost instantly.

At the manor of the High Merchant, Ross was in his garden again. This time, however, he was not happy. He was frowning deeply in worry as he drained a glass of wine, apparently waiting for something... or somebody. Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt a knife press against his neck and tensed up. He did not relax when the knife was removed and its owner, a stuningly beautiful woman with long blonde hair, walked in front of him. She was wearing millitary armor and a pure white cloak.

"Sorry to keep you waiting... your grace." She smiled. Ross forced himself to incline his head.

"No... no problem at all, White Assassin."

"Please, call me Cerl." She sat down in a chair opposite him and took another wine glass without even being asked. "How are things going here in Auria? Commerce doing fine?"

"There are no problems with the commerce." Ross nodded stiffly. Cerl took a sip of wine and nodded.

"Ah, good. Then... if we can get down to business..." She snapped the stem of the glass with a single twitch of her thumb. "Where. The hell. Is the. Light. Key." She was still smiling, but now it was frozen, with all the emotion of a snake about to strike. Ross gulped.

"That... that, there are some difficulties with."

"I guessed as much." The White Assassin nodded. "Since the Light Key is not currently in the Dark Dragon Empire's possession as we had agreed upon, I would certainly hope that thre were some difficulties... rather than direct recalcitrance on your part. You are not stupid, after all." Ross shivered.

"No... no, I am not. Your... analysis on the fate of my city convinced me to aid you, after all."

"It is in your best interest." Cerl nodded. "The Dark Dragon Empire is going to conquer the world, and nobody can stop it. Oh, there have been some setbacks up north, but those will be rectified in time. Auria is much wiser to surrender its Goddess Key to the Empire peacefully, instead of forcing us to come here and... take it." Ross nodded unhappily.

"I am prepared to do whatever I have to in order to save my city."

"Good." Cerl grinned wider. "Very good, Ross. You know, there was once a place that thought differently from you. A place in the west that hated the Dark Dragons, that would have nothing to do with them. Why, they even killed one of their own when she took a Dark Dragon general as her husband. Do you know who those people were?" Ross slowly nodded.

"Yes... the Fusion Clan."  
"And do you know what happened to the Fusion Clan in the end?" Cerl purred. Ross nodded, shaking. The fate of the Fusion Clan was a tale of horror known to all.

"They... were massacred."

"Very brutally so." The White Assassin smiled. "They were all killed, and their home was burned to the ground. I was there at the time, so I can assure you-it was VERY nasty. And so perished the Fusion Clan."

"Auria will not make the same mistake." Ross assured her. She let one hand stray towards her knife.

"Good..." Faster than light, she was standing behind Ross, knife at his face. "Because if you do, our war fleet will sail into Auria's harbor and lay waste to it totally and completely. We will knock down the buildings, we will slaughter the people, we will burn everything, and what we don't burn we will crush into gravel. Nothing will remain of Auria but a smoking patch of wasteland. Understood?" Ross nodded yes, knife biting into his cheek. "Excellent." Cerl let him bleed for a moment, then moved away, back in her chair instantly. "Now, then. What are these 'difficulties' you speak of?"

"My... daughter." Ross held his cheek. "She somehow heard of the plan... and has locked herself behind the safe that goes to the tower. She has the only key with her."

"Damn." Cerl frowned. "I'm out of practice with safecracking... I MIGHT be able to do it, but I might break the mechanism, and then the damn thing'd never open. Better not risk it. Are YOU doing anything about this?"

"Yes, actually." Ross nodded stiffly. "Some friends of mine are heading for Bleak to find a thief who can open that safe as we speak."

"Would these friends happen to be Light Dragon Ryu, Bo of the Forest Clan, and Princess Nina of Winlan?" Cerl asked archly. Ross went white.

"How did you...?"

"Please, Ross." Cerl laughed. "You thought to keep secrets from ME? But don't worry, I'm not angry." She grinned viciously. "On the contrary... those fools seem to be blessed with the most incredible luck. It's very possible that they will, indeed, find us a thief who can get that safe open. Lord knows they've been successful enough in screwing up our operations up north." She shrugged. "Of course, after they've done that, they'll go back to being a liability for us. I trust you can arrange to have them suitably disposed of when that happens, Ross."

"But..." Ross started to protest and was cut off.

"No buts, Ross. Not even one if you want to keep your city-and your daughter-in one piece. Understood?"

"Y... yes..." The High Merchant agreed sadly. Cerl reached over and gave his cheek a mocking pat.

"That's the way. You see, Ross, governments can always come to a mutually beneficial agreement if they try hard enough. Keep your mind on what's important... Auria and your daughter. Nothing else matters to you more than those. Get us the Light Key, and both will be spared... we'll turn our attentions to the Dark Key in Bleak, and Auria won't see so much as a single attack ship." She yawned. "Ah well, I should be getting back to the ship. I hope the Light Key comes to us soon, Ross... for your city's sake, it had better." She disappeared, gone out the window instantly, and Ross silently buried his head in his arms.

"So, Bleak's a village of thieves?" Ryu asked as they passed through the ancient construct known as the Light & Dark Tunnel that connected Auria to their destination. Nina nodded.

"Yeah. The entire society's based off of it... mostly, they try to come up with ways to top each other. The concept of a personal possession is nearly unknown... anything is yours only as long as you can guard it. Travelers, of course, are fair game, but they'll never kill or take so much that the poor saps would die unless the other guy attacks first. Because of this, they're recognized as a legitimate society by the other lands of the east, and their boss, Elder Khel..."

"Is an old friend of yours?" Bo guessed.

"However did you know?" Nina asked in mock surprise, then laughed. "That won't mean much to the others here, though... we'll have to keep a close eye on our money. And that INCLUDES the women; they'll rob you as easily as the men will. Understood?"

"Wouldn't dream of following any strange women anywhere." Ryu assured her. "Present company excepted, of course."

"You're a laugh riot." The princess muttered, leading them out of the tunnel. The land around Bleak was almost the polar opposite of Auria; it was dark as night, despite being around noon.

"Let me guess." Ryu frowned. "The Dark Key?"

"You got it." Bo confirmed. "The Dark Tower's not in the town itself, it's on the opposite shore of that lake... see?" He pointed out an edifice that rose from the earth like some long, jagged fang. "And no, we can't go in. The tower's locked tight."

"Maybe the safecracker we find in Bleak will be able to open that too." Ryu shrugged. Nina frowned.

"Maybe, IF we get the Elder's permission. That Tower's just about the only place the thieves of Bleak WON'T break into just for a lark... even the wildest one is dead sober about the Goddess Keys. They know what's important."

"Smart people." Ryu said approvingly. "Hopefully we'll be able to get through to them. Here, this has to be the place." Built on the south edge of a lake that was at the center of a valley deep in the eastern mountains, Bleak was a loose collection of buildings whose construction could be described as slapdash at best. The layout seemed designed to provide as many shady alleys as possible, and the streets were filthy. Surprisingly, the people seemed unusually cheerful; whether warming theirselves in front of a flaming barrel, sneaking through the aforementioned alleys or just wandering around trying to look more inconscpicuous than everybody else doing the same, they had wide grins on their faces. "Happy town, I see."

"The people here have no illusions about what they are." Bo explained. "Aurians like to describe this place as a cesspool... but if it is, then it's perfectly happy with being a cesspool, and does its job very well instead of trying to be something else."

"There are worse lifestyles." Nina admitted. "Now come on, let's find the Elder." They passed through town, smilingly passing down several offers, from a young man in starry robes who offered to sell the Planar Sphere to a young woman in a revealing dress who offered to tell their fortunes. Finally, they reached a series of warehouses in the very back. Nina approached one with two men standing outside who bore an astonishing resemblance to the Gremlin that General Graham had transformed into. Nina approached one fearlessly and handed him a familiar letter.

"Could you take this to your boss please? I think he'll be interested in it." The two gorillas looked at each other, and the second one nodded. The first one turned and walked into the warehouse, while the second watched them carefully. After a moment, the first one poked his head back out and motioned for them to come in, which they did. However, instead of taking them further, he folded his arms across his chest.

"Very well, then." He spoke for the first time. "Apologies, but I must take steps to verify your identities before conducting you to my employer." Nina recovered first; ignoring Ryu and Bo's slackjawed stares, she smiled winningly.

"Ask away, good sir."

"Which ruler of the Lands of the East did NOT attend the strategy meeting to discuss the Dark Dragon advance ten years ago?"  
"That would be the Chief of Romero." Nina answered without hesitation. "Those people up there are standoffish almost to a fault. I think they try to pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist most of the time."

"Excellent." The thug's granitelike features creased in what was probably a smile. "Please, accompany me to the locale of Elder Khel." He took them to a small study in a back room, where an ancient man with skin like an aged prune was calmly doing paperwork without even a hint of difficulty moving. Looking up, he smiled.

"Princess Nina, it is you... apologies for Flak's suspicion, but these days, caution is neccessary."

"We understand." Nina nodded. "Elder Khel, allow me to introduce my friends... these are Ryu of the Light Dragons and Bo of the Forest Clan."

"Of course. We know all about your adventures." Khel grinned. "You three are quite the heroes down here. If anybody took some of your money, they'll be waiting outside to give it back to you when you leave here after word spreads. Which it already is, undoubtedly."

"Is that so?" Ryu smiled. "Think one of them might be willing to help us with a job, then?"

"A job, eh?" Khel's eyes glimmered. "An interesting one, I hope? You won't get many volunteers if it's just an everyday task..."

"Not at all." Bo grinned. "We need the big safe underneath High Merchant Ross' house in Auria opened. His daughter's trapped in there."

"Ah, now it makes sense..." Khel's eyes narrowed now. "So that's what Ross told you... we were wondering."

"You know what's up with Ross?" Nina demanded. Khel nodded sadly.

"Yes, unfortunately... it seems old friend Ross had made some wrong decisions. He's been in contact with the Dark Dragons."

"Dark Dragons!" Ryu's eyes went flat. "Is he selling out the lands of the east?"

"Not by choice, no." Khel shook his head. "There's several Dark Dragon warships at anchor a bit north of Auria. It's not hard to guess what happens if Ross doesn't do exactly what they tell him. They want the Light Key."

"The safe!" Bo snapped his fingers. "The secret tunnel into the Light Tower... it's there!"

"Exactly." Khel nodded. "His daughter's smart... she locked herself in there on purpose, so nobody could get the Key." He sighed. "I don't know what to do about Ross... but sooner or later, you WILL need to get into the safe."

"Yeah." Ryu agreed. "So, know anybody who could do that?"

"Only one." The Elder admitted. "We're all good, but THAT safe is another thing altogether. The one you need... is my own son, Karn."

"Your son?" Nina yelped. "I didn't know you..."

"He's adopted." Khel explained. "After the meeting nine years ago. I found him wandering outside Bleak one day and discovered he had the skills of a genius thief. Now, he's a legend here, and he's only fifteen." He frowned. "However... there's a problem."

"There always is." Ryu groaned. "What is it?"

"Karn left for Arad recently." Khel explained. "He said he was going to rob the legendary Krypt... also known as the Thief's Tomb. Supposedly, the book that's at the very bottom contains all the secrets of the world's greatest thieves... every one who steals it adds their own knowledge and returns it when they're done."

"And Karn wants to be next." Bo shrugged. "Okay, so we'll go to Arad. Unless..." He groaned. "TELL me there isn't a sandstorm right now." Khel nodded solemnly.

"Just started after Karn went through... it'll be two weeks at least, maybe even a month, before it dies down."

"And we can't wait that long." Ryu growled. "There's got to be some way..."

"Well... technically, there is." Khel looked uncomfortable. "We... have a treaure here in Bleak... or to be more specific, I have it. The Sapphire Icicle... it's an artifact that, supposedly, can quell sandstorms."

"However, every thief in town had probably tried to steal it and failed." Nina guessed. "So if you just give it to somebody, even us..."

"I kiss my position goodbye." Khel shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, but unless you can find something of near equivalent value to exchange for it..."

"We might..." Ryu thought for a moment. "If we could get a big old whopping solid gold bar from Auria... would that work?" Khel's eyes widened.

"Solid... yes, that just might!"  
"Right, then." Ryu nodded. "We'll see what we can do about getting one." Khel nodded back.

"I hope you can... until then, friends." Flak the thug showed them out. Once they were outside the warehouse, Bo and Nina rounded on their leader.

"Are you INSANE?" The Princess hissed. "Did you see how much those things COST?"

"I know, I know, but what other options do we have?" Ryu defended himself. "We need that Sapphire Icicle. Auria's got lots of money... we'll figure out SOME way to get some of it."

"I sure hope so, boss." Bo growled, unconvinced. "We'll head back there in the morning, then... for now, let's try and find an Inn that doesn't look like it'll have rats behind the desk."

"All right, let's start thinking." Ryu said as he took a large drink of his beer. The group were back in Auria. Instead of going to Ross' again, however, they had found a bar. Coincidentally, there was one on the second floor of Nuzi & Gobi's; apparently, the Maniros were quite successful in their profession. "We need sixty-five thousand Zenny, preferrably fast."

"How much did that innkeeper back in Bleak give you to keep quiet when you caught him with his hand in our wallet while we slept?" Bo grinned.

"Five thousand. That plus the twenty-five thousand we already had is a good start, but not enough. I'm just glad all the royalty we've met were THAT generous with funding us." Ryu stared into his mug. "There's no helping it. We're going to have to split up and do anything we can to make money." Nina winced.

"Royalty actually doing honest work? My parents will have fifteen heart attacks between them simultaneously if they ever find out."

"Say it's their fault for not making your allowance bigger." Bo shrugged. "All right. Meet back here in... two days?"

"Sounds like a plan." Ryu nodded. "See you guys then, I guess." Paying for his drink, the Light Dragon hit the streets of Auria. It only took him two hours of wandering aimlessly for him to realize just how hopelessly out of place he was. "This sucks. If I was in a smaller town, I'd find something great... except it wouldn't pay nearly enough. Maybe I should just go back north anyways..."

"Excuse me?" Somebody was accosting him. It was an older woman wearing very expensive-looking clothing. "Sir... did you say you come from up north?"

"Yes, I did, ma'am." Ryu quickly agreed. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Please... my son went up there..." She sniffled. "He said he wanted to cut wood in all the forests up there... but he hasn't returned, and it's been four days..."

"I'll go up there right away and find him." Ryu promised. "He might have run afoul of the Forest Clan, but I'm on very good terms with them, so if that's the case I can get him out. I'll bring him back, ma'am." It took him the better part of a day to go back through the Cape Tunnel. Fortunately, when he emerged outside, he saw his target right away. About a mile off, an exhausted-looking young man was running endless circles around a circle of flowers.

"Help! Help me!" He called as soon as he saw Ryu. "Please... I'm under a spell!"

"Are you from Arad?" Ryu asked. The young man nodded.

"Yes... I came here to chop wood, but these fairies came out and did this to me! I can't stop!"

"Wood fairies...?" Ryu wondered. "Thought they were just a myth... well, if the stories were true, I might know a way to bail you out. But, you're going to have to promise them never to cut live trees again."

"Of course!" The young man nodded frantically.

"Good. I'll go see if I can find them, then." Ryu hiked into the nearby woods, and soon located a clearing full of flowers like the ones in the circle. As he approached, several things shout out into the air. Tiny, humanlike figures with insect wings, each only the size of his hand. They were all female, with long lavender hair and leotards that seemed to have been made out of red flower petals.

"Are you here to cut wood too?" One of them demanded. "If you are, I'll enchant you, too!"

"Not at all." Ryu carefully moved his hands away from his sword. "Actually, I'm here with a message from that first guy you put a spell on. He says he repents chopping the trees, and promises never to do so again." The fairy leader's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

"Are you sure? If that's so... all right, I'll forgive that foolish human. Come on, sisters! You too, Light Dragon!" Laughing, the fairies flitted off into the trees, and Ryu followed as quickly as he could. When he reached the circle of flowers, the fairies were hovering around the would-be lumberjack as he spun in place.

"Help! The spell...!" The young man gasped, then fell to the ground. The fairy leader flew down in front of his face.

"Now you know what you've done. You cut a tree that took hundreds of years to grow..."

"I... know." The man clutched his head. "I won't... never again..."

"What did you do to him?" Ryu demanded. The fairy leader glanced at him.

"I allowed him to see what the tree he killed had... all of it. He won't be the same... never again. But it's a good difference. Who knows? Maybe he'll even do things that will make nature thank him before his human life is done." Laughing, the fairies flew off into the trees. Ryu gave the young man some food and water from his pack.

"Here you go, bud. Have some of these and rest up here tonight, and we'll go back to Auria in the morning."

When they arrived in Auria, the young man took Ryu to his house, where his mother was waiting. After a tearful reunion, the rich woman walked over to Ryu.

"Sir... thank you. You rescued my son... and now, he even knows what he wants to do with his life..."

"I'm going to be an ecologist." The former lumberjack told Ryu. "That's... well, it's a type of scientest that protects nature. Mom's sending me to Prima to be educated about it. Maybe, some day, I'll see them again." His eyes grew distant at "them." The rich woman handed Ryu a bulging pouch.

"Here, sir... I know it's not enough, but..."

"Ma'am, this is more than I deserve." Ryu bowed. "Anybody from my hometown would have done the same. I'm just glad everything turned out well."

"Then wherever your hometown is, may Ladon bless it." The rich woman murmured. Ryu's face darkened for a moment, but then returned to normal.

"He does, ma'am. Good luck to both of you." He went back to the bar above Gobi and Nuzi's, and found Bo and Nina waiting for him.

"Well, how'd you make out?" Bo asked as soon as Ryu had ordered a drink. "I got five thousand... some guy in here drank so much he was falling off his stool before he remembered he had to meet his wife in ten minutes. I got him some sobriety pills from downstairs and he left his wallet with me."

"I got you beat, then." Nina smiled. "I made ten thousand."

"How'd you do THAT?" Bo demanded. She blushed a little.

"Well, there was this old man..."

"Aha..." Bo smirked. "What did HE want?"

"Ah... well, he wanted a... back massage." Bo and Ryu stared at her.

"That's IT?" Bo shook his head. "Geez... this is what comes of a sheltered upbringing." Nina calmly tossed out a word that made every head in the bar turn towards them, and the Forest Clanner winced. "Never mind. Ryu, how'd you do?"

"Missing persons case... twenty thousand Zenny." Ryu reported smugly. Nina groaned.

"Rats... thought I was the winner."

"We're ALL winners, Princesss... or hadn't you noticed? We have enough to buy that Gold Bar now." Ryu grinned. "We'll have to go a little light on supplies until we find another chief or something willing to finance us, but them's the breaks. Come on, let's go down and watch Nuzi's face fall off when we actually buy one of those things!"

Elder Khel had traded the gold bar for the Sapphire Icicle instantly upon seeing it, and within minutes, the news of how good a deal the Elder had made off of finally selling the treasure was all over Bleak. It was still being talked about the next day when the heroes left the town to go even further south. Krypt was in the Desert of Arad, which covered almost the entirety of the extreme southeast. To get there, the fastest way was yet another mountain tunnel.

"What is WITH the far east?" Ryu complained as a bat nearly hit his head. "Tunnel from Forest Clan lands connects to Auria. Tunnel from Auria connects to Bleak. Tunnel from Bleak connects to Desert of Arad. Did Ladon consult a Mole Clanner when designing this part of the world or something?"

"Be glad these tunnels are here at all." Nina suggested. "Otherwise, we'd be stuck mountaineering, and we do NOT have time for that."

"We're here." Bo announced, pointing ahead. The cave opened up a while ahead, but before any of them would even get close, they would be caught up in the raging winds and flying sand that even came into the tunnel. "Yikes... Khel wasn't kidding. We'd be dead meat if we tried going through that. You got the Sapphire Icicle, Ryu?"

"Yeah..." Ryu doubtfully examined the tiny blue conic gem for the tenth time. "So... do I just throw this out into the storm?"

"Seems that way." Bo nodded. "Give it a shot, boss." Ryu wound up and hurled the Icicle with all his power. The change was instantaneous; it was almost as if Ladon had flicked some meteorological "off" switch. The sandstorm was gone. Walking forward, Ryu nonchalantly picked the sapphire icicle back up and pocketed it.

"Well, whaddaya know. It works after all. Very nice."

Unfortunately, the next few days were not quite so nice. On the contrary, they were akin to traveling through hell. The desert sands were horribly hot in the daytime and equally cold at night. Despite the loss of the sandstorm, ordinary winds could disrupt dangerous amounts of sand at any moment. And there were monsters all over, from Creon insects the size of livestock to mobile cacti with tentaclelike roots and cycloptic eyes to angry, living clods of the sand itself.

"Why did I agree to this job?" Bo moaned on the fourth day. "I should have stayed a pro hunter. This is insane. This is..." He blinked as he reached the top of the dune. "Hey, check THOSE out!" The others joined him. Down below were three very interesting things. The first was a large, grass-covered hill, almost a mountain, with what appeared to be some kind of ruins on top. The second was a huge, stone fortress with a "moat" of quicksand completely surrounding it. And the third... a collection of tents, with small figures completely covered in heavy robes wandering between them.

"The natives!" Nina gasped. "Let's go! Finally!" Summoning up enough strength to run (or, in Nina's case, fly fast), the travelers bolted for the tents.

The natives of Arad were amazingly friendly and helpful; as soon as they saw the travelers, they were given a tent to stay in and enough food and water to keep an elephant happy. After recovering, they were taken to meet the Elder, Khan.

"Princess Nina." Elder Khan bowed deeply. "You honor us with your presence."

"We are honored to be recieved so cordially." Nina smiled. "Elder, we hope you can be of help to us. We are seeking a young man from Bleak who came here looking for a place called Krypt."

"Ah... young Karn." Elder Khan stroked his mustache, the only part of him visible aside from his eyes beneath the hood. "I am afraid you just missed him. He left for Krypt yesterday."

"Figures." Ryu sighed. "I'm hoping Krypt was one of the places we saw yesterday... either the green hill or the big stone place with the quicksand moat."

"It is the latter." Elder Khan confirmed. "The former... that is the moving town of Wisdon."

"Moving town?" Bo blinked.

"Yes... a great mystery." Elder Khan explained. "The entire hill constantly roams across our desert... whenever anybody tries to get close, it avoids them. None have set foot on it in centuries. Krypt, however... every so often, a thief from Bleak tries to enter. Rarely, one will even make it back."

"How do they make it across?" Bo asked.

"They attach a rope to a knife, throw it across so that it embeds in the rock, then anchor another knife on the other end of the rope securely on this side. Then they climb across the rope." Elder Khel shuddered. "I don't know how they do it myself."

"Neither do I." Ryu admitted. "Well, we're screwed. There's no way WE can get across there. Well, Nina could..."

"Any chance you could make it in one of those dragon forms?" Bo asked. Ryu shook his head.

"Those ones, the wings are too small. No chance."  
"Well, there is one way." Elder Khan admitted. "We do... have a treasure here. A relic that will make a bridge appear across the moat. The Fife. But..."

"But you can't just give it to us." Ryu sighed. "Right. What can we do for you?"

"You can rid us of a scourge." The Elder answered fiercely. "Every night of the new moon, our goats are attacked by a horrendous beast... a sandworm."

"Sandworm, huh." Ryu grinned. "As it turns out, pest removal is one of our specialties. If I'm not mistaken, there's a new moon tonight... we'll get rid of that thing for you."

"Do so, and the Fife is yours." Elder Khan promised.

They remained in the Elder's tent until night, relaxing in the abscence of the sun. When the last traces of light were gone, the three of them walked outside.

"So, this thing only comes out of the ground at night, huh..." Ryu muttered as they moved towards the goat pen. "Sounds like it doesn't like heat."

"You going to try a traditional fire dragon then?" Bo guessed. The Light Dragon nodded.

"Yup."

"As long as it can rip this thing to shreds." Nina shuddered. "I've heard about the sandworms of Arad. They're nasty. I feel sorry for those goats."

"Aw geez, move!" Ryu yelled, dashing forward. Ahead of them, the sand was already churning underneath one of the goats. When they were five feet away, the goat pen erupted as a long red mass blasted straight upwards like a rocket. Bits of the unlucky goat that had been above it flew everywhere. As Ryu transformed, the Sandworm lowered its upper portion to glare down at them. It was mostly composed of warty, pink-red spheres, linked in a chain. The head, however, had heavy purple armor plating. There were no eyes, but a pair of armored antennae swept back from the head, and a fat-lipped mouth gaped full of fangs. Ryu immediately went on the attack, jumping forward and attaching himself to the segment just below the neck. The Sandworm hissed, then screamed as he released flames into the wounds his teeth inflicted. It twisted around, trying to reach him, but it was unable to.

"Nice move, Ryu!" Bo cheered, flexing his arm and causing a flame to sprout inside the Sandworm's guts, where the body went back into the ground. Screaming anew, it opened its mouth and spewed a wave of blistering sand at the Forest Clanner. Growling, Bo stood his gound and fired again. Then Nina drove her rapier into the head right under the armor, and the Sandworm decided it had had enough. Howling, it retreated back the way it had come, taking Ryu with it.

"RYU!" Nina yelled, starting to dash for the hole. Bo held her back.

"Easy, princess. Could be a trap!"

"But...!" She started to move forward again, then stopped. A small red dragon had climbed back out.

"That was a close one for a moment... but that bug won't be going anywhere!" Ryu chuckled, reverting to his normal form.

"You were stupendous!" Elder Khan ran up, holding some kind of brightly colored musical instrument. "Here, the Fife is yours. Take it!"

"Thank you, your grace." Ryu accepted it with a weary smile. "But right now, we need a bed more than anything. Whoof."

"All right, let's hope we just have to play this thing, and that the quality doesn't matter." Ryu commented as they stood near Krypt's moat. "I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." The others nodded in agreement. Putting the Fife to his mouth, Ryu blew sharply. The sound was akin to a windchime that had been coated in grease, but it did the job. Even as Bo and Nina were covering their ears, a wooden bridge extended outward from the Krypt to the opposite bank. Ryu and Bo easily walked across, with Nina flying above them. As soon as they had stepped off, the bridge vanished again in a puff of smoke.

"I just hope that thing isn't one-way, or we're in trouble." Bo grumbled as they entered Krypt. The ancient stone building had a long hallway that wound all the way around the main room on the first floor. Fortunately, it seemed someone had been here before recently and set off all the traps, and they had not yet reset.

"Our man Karn." Ryu smirked. "He did all this on purpose... knew these all and set them off just to show off. He's definitely the guy we want." At the center was a staircase leading down. The next floor was covered with small raised levels, each one holding an empty treasure chest. At most of the intersections where the paths between them joined, trapdoors gaped open. The travelers carefully moved across to the next stairs. The third floor down had the stairs to the fourth right there; the rest of it was covered in four-foot spikes.

"When we find this Karn, remind me to thank him very much for opening those trapdoors first." Bo sweated. The fourth floor seemed quite unremarkable; in front of them was a large boulder. Embedded halfway in it was something very strange. It was flat and made out of wood, and seemed to be in a rounded V shape.

"What is THIS?" Nina wondered, giving it a tug. It didn't budge. "Huh. Wierd. Oh well, if even Karn couldn't get this out, we don't have much chance."

"Can't win 'em all." Ryu agreed, walking past it, then pausing. "Now what's THIS thing?" It appeared to be a mechanical eye, grey with a glassy red pupil, hovering motionless in the air.

"Go away!" It hissed. "Nobody gets in here!"

"Oh really?" Ryu smirked and walked around it. Immediately, it darted past him towards the back of the room, where several more were collecting. They clustered together around something and then came forward, with whatever it was obscured save for dangling tentacles of various bright colors.

"All right, hold it right there, assholes!" The thing yelled. "And just where do you think YOU'RE going?"

"Uh... we're going on down, Mr..." Nina fumbled. The thing laughed, shortly and mirthlessly.

"ICU Security Unit #031, but you can call me the Eye Spy. And I'm afraid not, lady."

"You do know we're not the only intruders hre, right?" Bo said converstionally. "Another guy came through here a while back. We're just looking for him, actually."

"Yeah, right." The Eye Spy snorted. "Sure, buddy. I wasn't built THAT long ago. Okay, enough talk. You've got two options. The first is the one I'd advise; you turn right around and march your butts back the way you came."

"And the second?" Ryu asked, hand straying near his sword. All the mechanical eyes twitched.

"The second... is that I rip you all to shreds!" The Eye Spy yelled, and all of its small eyes blasted forward, slamming into Ryu simultaneously before returning to the main body. "Hey! What the-?" When they returned, Ryu was no longer looking the same as before; he was now a vibrant blue Thunder Whelp.

"You really should be more open to negotiation." Ryu grinned before opening his mouth and releashing a whip of electricity that lashed the mass of eyes. Three of them spun off, destroyed. Bo smirked and drew his bow. In only seconds, three more fell to the ground, pierced. Howling. the Eye Spy directed its attack at Nina, who met it head on, felling one more with her rapier even as the remaining three hit her. Ryu roared and blew them out of the sky. With none of its satellite eyes left, the Eye Spy was revealed. The main body looked much more biological; it was a green-fleshed sphere, dominated by a huge blue eye that had a red pupil. Brightly colored tentacles of various colors dangled from its bottom.

"Idiots! Now you shall truly taste my wrath!" Yelling, it blinked, and Bo was struck by a bolt of electricity. The Forest Clanner stood his ground bravely and grimaced.

"THAT's all you can do? I can do that too, moron!" A similar bolt of lightning smashed into the Eye Spy from above, knocking it to the floor. It rose only to be hit again, head on, by a much stronger bolt from Ryu that blew it through a wall. Large chunks of rock collapsed upon it, and there was no movement. A single tentacle protruded limply.  
"Well, THAT was annoying." Ryu grunted, reverting to his human form. "Argh... shouldn't have done that."

"You okay, boss?" Bo asked. Ryu nodded.

"Yeah... but let's hurry up here, okay? I'm having visions of our beds back in the natives' camp." Walking down the next set of stairs that the Eye Spy had guarded, they found themselves in a room surrounded on all sides but the one they had entered by a deep pit. The only thing on the floor were several empty red chests, and one blue one that remained closed.

"You don't suppose the stairs are in there?" Nina asked. Ryu shrugged.

"Where else? Pop it open and let's see." The blue chest was empty... and made an ominous clicking noise when opened. Ryu frowned. "Uh-oh. We might have just made a big mistake... oh, crap." The way they had come was blocked by iron bars. Bo cocked an ear.

"That sound... oh, double crap. Water." The pit around them was being filled with slowy rising water.

"What do we do?" Nina yelled, almost hysterical. Bo looked around wildly.

"Search the area! There's got to be some failsafe... a way to turn the trap off!"

"All right, who's the amateur!" A new voice complained from the blue chest. It slid over to the side, revealing the stairs UNDER it. As it slid into place between three empty chests, the water stopped rising. Nina sighed with relief.

"Thank you... Karn."

"You know who I am, eh? Well, then..." The thief from Bleak jumped up and stared at them. "What the... the guys from Auria?" It was their cellmate, the one who had opened the lock on the jail. They all stared back.

"YOU'RE Karn?" Bo demanded. The young thief recovered and smirked.

"The one and only! You guys can't be thieves here for this place... not if you set off THAT simple trap. And from the sounds of the scuffle above, you got caught by the ICU too, huh?" Ryu nodded ruefully.

"You got it. This isn't our line of work. Actually, Karn, we're here for you, on the recommendation of Elder Khel. We have ajob for you."

"Sorry, no deal." Karn said firmly. "I'm not budging from this place until I've got that Book of Thieves." His eyes glimmered. "But still... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to know what's going on."

"It's the huge safe in Auria... under High Merchant Ross' house." Bo explained. "Somebody's trapped there, and there's a Goddess Key too."

"A Goddess Key?" Karn's eyes narrowed. "You guys aren't with the Dark Dragons, are you?"

"Exactly the opposite." Ryu shook his head. "I'm a Light Dragon, and we're looking for the Keys to keep them AWAY from the Dark Dragons."

"Ah..." Karn looked thoughtful. "Well, then... I could probably open the safe... IF I had the Book."

"All right then." Ryu sighed. "We'll help you get this Book. We're not much at trap spotting, but..."

"I can handle that." Karn assured him. "Actually, we're almost there. This is exactly where I need guys like you. Come on!" Following him down to the final floor, they discovered that there were twelve coffins of solid stone set evenly around the room. Karn pointed at one. "Let's start with that one. Now, one of these will have the Book in it. Problem is, I don't know which one. So, we'll do it like this. You two big guys, grab either end of the lid and move it. When you do, I'll be looking for any traps, and disarm them before they can nail us. Bird lady, you're on lookout; warn us if any monsters approach." Ryu and Bo moved into position. "On three. One, two, lift!" Grunting, they did so. Faster than their eyes could follow, Karn's hands darted into the coffin and came out holding a nasty-looking dart. "All right, let's see... darn!" The coffin was empty. "Right, didn't think it'd be the first anyways. Put that back on and let's try the next!" The next coffin was empty as well. As was the next... and the next... and every one after, until the last one.

"Figures." Ryu muttered. "Should have known it'd be the last one right from the beginning."

"Yup, it usually happens that way." Karn admitted, smiling. "Ah well, let's open 'er up!" Ryu and Bo lifted the lid, and Karn removed the trap. All four leaned over the casket, looking inside. It was empty, like the others... but there was something written on the bottom.

_If you have come this far, thief, you need no book. Nothing in this world is safe from you. Your skills are unparalled. You have conquered Krypt. Well done!_ Slowly, the four travelers looked up. They all stared at each other with perfectly blank faces.

And then, as one, they broke out in helpless laughter.


	8. Chapter 7: Money Can't Buy Me Love

**__**

Chapter 7: Money Can't Buy Me Love

"So, I take it things went well?" Elder Khel inquired, raising an eyebrow. The four travelers had returned to Bleak. Karn snorted.

"Depending on your definition of well. But it didn't blow up in our faces, so I suppose things are fine." He raised an eyebrow. "One thing, though. You told me you conquered Krypt when you were a little older than me."

"That's right... so yes, I knew there was no book." Elder Khel admitted. "But you had to find that out for yourself."

"Yeah yeah, learn by experience." Karn rolled his eyes. "At least I got a bunch of other loot from there. And I'll probably need the funds from it soon." Bo raised an eyebrow.

"Does that mean you want to stay on even after we get Auria figured out?"

"Definately." The young thief nodded. "Bleak is nice, but I've got to see the rest of the world too. And I'm no fan of the Dark Dragons either... been looking for a way to put one over on them for a while now." He grinned. "Plus, you guys are a riot. This is going to be the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Glad to hear it." Ryu nodded. "After seeing what you did to that Shadow who jumped us on the way back, I've got no problems."

"Taking lessons from every knife fighter in the land pays off." Karn shrugged. "No magic, but oh well, nobody's perfect." Elder Khel slowly nodded.

"If you're sure about this, Karn, I won't try to change your mind." He sighed. "I'd always hoped you'd have nothing to do with the Dark Dragons, but... you're determined to do this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, dad." Karn confirmed. "They'd come down here soon anyways... after they finish with Auria. Imagine the looks on their faces when they find out we're long gone with the Dark Key. That'll be great."

"Yes, I suppose..." The Elder of Bleak agreed. "But... well, Karn, if you're sure of this... there's something I need to tell you. You... might have noticed that you weren't born in Bleak."

"I know." Karn nodded. "I have vague memories... nothing definite, though. Wait." He blinked. "Do you... know where I came from?"

"I... do." Elder Khel admitted. "I haven't told you before, because... well... it's not a story suitable for children, Karn. But if you're old enough to leave... then it's time you knew. You're... you're Fusion Clan, Karn." Karn's face paled, and Ryu's eyes widened. Even in Drogen, they had heard the story of the Fusion Clan. It was the wakeup call to the world about Emperor Zog's mad ambitions. The cause for it was still not totally known; rumors ranged from a simple refusal to join the Dark Dragons' Empire, to personally offending one of the Tiamat Unit or even Zog himself. Whatever it had been, the Dark Dragons had descended upon the Fusion Clan, just north of their own capital, Scande, and utterly annihilated them. A rumor of a survivor would occasionally surface here or there, but to most people, the Clan was considered extinct... completely wiped out.

"I'm... one of them?" Karn whispered, all traces of humor gone. "Then... how did I get here?"

"We have no clue." Elder Khel shook his head. "I found you wandering outside this town... I can only assume another of your kind fled with you, but I know nothing of their fate."

"...Heh." Karn chuckled a bit. "Well... yeah, that sucks. But... you know, I don't remember anybody. Or anything. So... I guess I'm not as broken up about this as I probably should be." His eyes hardened, just for a moment. "But I'll be damned if I let the Dark Dragons do that to another home of mine... to Bleak. Not happening. Not even close." He shook his head, apparently to clear off the gloom. "All right, then! Let's get going! Dark Tower, ho!"  
"Good luck, Karn." Elder Khel waved as they left. "Just... try to stay alive."

"Don't worry, old man." Karn waved back, grinning cheekily. "I haven't gotten killed so far, have I?" Leaving Bleak, they rounded the lake and soon found the Dark Tower. Karn stepped up to the door and quickly undid the lock.

"Dark Key, here we come." Ryu grinned, walking in. The entire tower, as they expected, was completely devoid of light. In what little shone in from the moon outside, they saw a desk with a small, silver dome on it. The dome had a button on top and a sign saying "Ring for service" nearby. The travelers all exchanged a confused glance, and Karn pressed the button, causing the dome to ring like a bell.

"All right, all right!" An old man's voice grumbled from above. "I'm comin'! Hold yer horses!" He clumped down a set of stairs in the corner. Ryu, Nina and Bo's jaws dropped. It was the old transient from the Cave of Cleansing Water who had called himself "Uncle Specs."

"...You? What are you doing here?" Ryu stammered. Uncle Specs glared indignantly at a coatrack.

"Me? I live here! The nerve of you, son! Get out! Out!" Grabbing the coatrack, he hurled it through the door, then turned to the travelers. "Glad you folks don't ask stupid questions. Hey, I know you..." He scratched his chin. "You're... Binky the Clown, aren't you!" Bo slapped his face.

"Ugh... no, we're the guys who you met in the Cave of Cleansing Water."

"Thought that WAS Binky the Clown..." Uncle Specs muttered. "Oh well, nice to see you. You like my house? Nice place, isn't it? Only problem is the ghost on the top floor."

"Ghost?" Nina asked sceptically. Uncle Specs nodded, trying to look wise and coming off more like a drunken owl.

"Oh, yes. Real cranky fella. Calls himself Clod or Cludd or something. Big red gassy type, always going on about some Key..."

"Key?" Ryu frowned. "Damn... might be a guardian like Wisp..."

"That guy from Agua?" Karn shrugged. "If so, we can take 'im. You flattened Wisp, right?"

"Yeah, guess so." Ryu agreed. "Well, uh... Uncle Specs... we'll go take care of your... ghost problem right now."

"Really?" The old bum's face was lit up by a huge smile. "Why, that's nice of you! Top floor, bricks, matchboxes and ladies' hats! I'll be waitin' down here when you're done!" Leaning against a wall, he began snoring. The travelers shrugged and walked past him, up the stairs. Unfortunately, the rest of the tower did not even have stray moonlight. They had to find their way by feeling around walls. After what seemed like an eternity, they came onto a new floor to see a crystal sphere shining with red light in front of them.

"Looks like the King Key, all right." Ryu grunted. Walking up to the sphere, he rapped on it with one knuckle. "Anybody home? Hello?"

"Ah, a Light Dragon..." A mist the same color as the orb hissed into the air, forming into one mass with bright green eyes. "And... others? Hmph... before the War, only Dragons could enter here..."

"The War?" Nina blinked. "You... were around during the War of... the Dragons?"

"Exactly." The spirit nodded, or at least it seemed to. It was hard to tell. "But things have changed now. I am the Cloud, guardian of the Dark Key! Let us fight, Ryu!"

"How do you... whoa!" Ryu dived aside, transforming, as a bolt of lightning smashed the ground where he had been only a moment before.

"Go for the eyes!" Bo yelled, hurling a puff of ice. Cloud intercepted it with an arm of red mist, only slightly hurt.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Karn dashed forward, underneath the arm, and plunged a knife from each hand into the Cloud's right eye. Howling, it opened its mouth and set the young thief on fire. "Ow! Owowow!" Karn rolled away, trying to put out the flames, and Cloud advanced on him only to meet Ryu, the Ice Whelp. Duplicating Bo's attack on a large scale, he blasted the Cloud with a long, lingering wave of frigid gas. Again, it intercepted with an extension of red mist.

"Nice try, but... eh?" It stared with its one good eye. The icy breath had not dissipated; it was continuing slowly forward, eating through the red mist. Grinning, Ryu attacked again, increasing the ice. The Cloud only had time for one last attack; even as the icy breath smashed into its eye, the entire room began shaking violently. Everybody hit the ground as large chunks of building stone smashed into the ground. After several seconds, it ceased.

"Everybody still on one piece?" Ryu asked. Three annoyed but affirmative noises answered him. Slowly getting to his feet, he watched the Cloud fade away, smiling.

"Good job... Wisp was right, you are strong. Now, find the Light Key to complete the pair..." And then he was gone, and the crystal orb floated to Ryu. It shattered, and a small object dropped into his hand, that everybody crowded around to see. Before they could get a good look, there was a flash, and suddenly the darkness was gone. Through a window in the roof, bright sunlight poured in. And in Ryu's claw was a lump of dark grey rock. Unlike the other Keys, the Dark Key had no beauty whatsoever; its carving was crude, almost primitive, save for the top of it, which looked like a cluster of screaming faces. Nina shuddered.

"Ugly thing..."

"Probably intentionally." Ryu growled. "The other two, and probably the rest of the set, look so beautiful you're tempted to forget what they're truly for. This one is a reminder." He slipped it into his pocket with the others and reverted. "Oof. All right, let's go." As they walked down, somebody came up to meet them. Uncle Specs.

"Ah! Ol' Clump's gone! You're the best exterminators I've ever hired!" He cackled. Nobody really felt up to trying to talk logic to him. "Here! Take this as payment! It's a little heavy for a tip, but you've earned it!" He pressed a small mirror, marvelously polished with a silver and black frame, into Ryu's hands.

"Well... it is very pretty." Ryu said doubtfully. Uncle Specs smiled conspiratorily.

"It's more than that." He whispered at maximum volume. "You can see ghosts in it! And real ones, not just spirit guardians like Cloud!" Ryu blinked; for a moment, the old man was talking normally. But only for a moment. "Now, get on! I don't have any more plumbing for you to fix!" Ranting to himself, the old man tromped down the hall.

"O... kay." Karn rubbed his eyes. "Well, that was... interesting. Where to now, chief?"

"Back to Bleak, for a night's rest." Ryu decided. "Then, we return to Auria. What we'll do there, I don't know, but we'll figure SOMETHING out."

"Why am I not reassured by that?" Karn muttered to Bo.

A hundred miles out from the town of Auria, there was nothing in sight but the waves. At midnight, the waters were almost as dark as the sky, making visibility nearly impossible. Nearly. Two ships, going opposite directions, were almost on top of each other. Each flew the Dark Dragon flag.

"OY! Suish, you jackass!" The Captain of the _Charybdis_, a Dark Dragon officer in ornate purple armor with a large, vikinglike beard yelled. "Are your eyes in your bilges? You almost hit us!"

"Go ram your mast sideways up your ass, Calim!" Captain Suish of the _Scylla_ returned, wind blowing through his trimmer goatee. "You didn't see us either! Now are you going to jabber all night, or are you coming aboard?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Captain Calim grumbled. Signalling his men to bring the ships close, he jumped across and clasped the other Captain in a bear hug. "How you doing, little brother?"

"Fine, if you'll stop trying to kill me." Suish laughed. "Come on, let's go below. I've got some Priman dark wine in my cabin."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Calim released him instantly. "I'd wrestle a Builder Clanner for Priman wine!"

"Yeah, I know." Suish rolled his eyes. "'It don't come primer 'n Priman!' Right, bro?"

"Hey, tell me honestly one time that saying's been false." Calim defended himself as the two Captains entered Suish's cabin. The younger brother thought for a moment.

"Well, there was the time a dead Maniro washed up in front of our parents' house. That bloke was Priman, sure enough, but whew!"

"You're about as funny as a Dogfish in the underpants." Cean remarked sourly, flopping on a couch. Suish laughed and poured the wine.

"Drink this. It'll cheer you up."

"That it will, probably." Calim admitted. "Where did you get this, anyways?"

"A gift from Admiral Cean, to be shared between us when we met, for a job well done." Suish explained. Calim snorted with surprise.

"A gift? That was unusually generous of the Admiral..."

"He was in a good mood." Suish explained. "I think he got through a meeting with the White Assassin without her going all psycho on him even once, and that doesn't happen often with those freaks."

"Tiamat Unit." Calim spat on the floorboards. "I wish they'd all just kill each other already. We don't need any of 'em."

"Not a chance, bro." Suish shook his head. "Those maniacs might not give a damn about anybody else, but they're more loyal to each other than to their own lives. Like a freakin' pack of wolves. And I hear they're even training some new guy now."

"After ten years with no change in the lineup? Doubt it." Calim sipped his wine. "'Course, now that I've said that, Ladon'll probably make it come true just to spite us."

"Our God has a very twisted sense of humor." Suish agreed. "Have you heard about the Light Dragons? Or more specifically... one Light Dragon?"

"You mean Ryu the terrorist?" Calim grew serious. "Yes. Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. That's something I need to tell you about. Did the White Assassin or the Admiral tell you about what's going on over in the east?" Suish shook his head.

"Nope... they just said you'd brief me when we switched over."

"Figures." Calim thought for a moment. "All right. Here's how it goes. You know about what happened to Folage and Graham, of course..."

"Of course." Suish sniffed. "That's all over the empire. Personally, I don't mind too much. Never did like those two."

"Yeah, well, that was a little while ago, and he's been busy, bro." Calim said wearily. "You know about the plans with Ross, right? Well, turns out his daughter caught wind of it and locked herself inside that big safe that's the only way to the Key."

"You think Ross might have figured out we're going to blast the city anyways?" Suish demanded. Calim shrugged.

"Maybe, but the White Assassin doesn't think so... says if he knew, she'd be able to tell. Anyways, Ryu and his friends don't know Ross is with us, so get this." He grinned viciously. "Guess who's down in Bleak, finding somebody to open the safe and save Ross' daughter."

"No way." Suish cackled. "Ryu the terrorist is working for US?"

"He doesn't know it, but yeah!" Calim snickered, the sobered. "But that guy's tricky... if he figures it out, all kinds of shit may fly. So keep on guard."

"Right." Suish nodded. "Orders the same after we get the Light Key, though?"

"You got it." Calim agreed. "Get the Key safely away, then take the ships you command south, catch Auria with its pants down and blow it to hell!"

"All right." Suish set aside his empty wineglass. "As for your orders... return to the main fleet and meet with Admiral Cean. If everything goes according to plan, he'll give you a few more ships that you'll bring back east to aid in finishing up Auria. We'll switch command positions again, I'll head back to Cean to report success, and you'll unload all our men onto land, finish totalling Auria and march towards Bleak. Objective, the Dark Key!"

"And that'll be our third... fifth, if Ryu the terrorist gets wiped out with Auria and we get his keys!" Calim laughed. "We'll be made Admirals alongside Cean, little bro!"

"Now THAT's something to drink to." Suish grinned, then sighed regretfully. "But we probably shouldn't... we need to get going, I guess. Our men'll get annoyed if we stay here at anchor for too long."

"Yeah, I guess." Calim sighed. "How long do you figure it'll be before I get sent back?"

"Only a few days... week at most." Suish guessed. "Ryu the terrorist should be arriving back in Auria with our safecracker any day now. Once that's taken care of and Ross gives us the Light Key, there'll be no reason to hold back on taking Auria any longer."

"Right, then." Calim nodded. "I should get going, or else we might not make it back to Auria in time. And we can't have that, can we? No sense in letting you hog all the fun."

"Plus the White Assassin will bite your head off if you're late. Maybe literally." Suish grinned. "And the Admiral'll do worse. Get back to the _Charybdis_, bro. I'll see you when Auria's being reduced to a hole in the ground."

"All right, here's the plan as far as I can figure it." Ryu sighed. The four travelers were seated around a table in the bar above Gobi & Nuzi's. Karn was nearest the stairs, keeping an eye out for enemies-or possibly Zenny Gata. "We go in during one of the sleep periods here, break into the safe and convince Ross' daughter we're on her side. Then we wait in there until it's one of the awake periods-day, in the rest of the world. We swipe the Light Key then and vamoose, and by the time anybody notices it's getting dark now, we'll be gone."

"And then what?" Nina demanded. "What do you think the Dark Dragons will do to this city when they find out the Light Key's gone?"

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess." Ryu shrugged unhappily. "It's not the world's greatest plan, I know, but the first priority has to be getting the Light Key out of here. Not only because of what it is, but because as long as Ross has it, he won't budge on turning it over to the Dark Dragons. Maybe once it's gone he'll listen to reason... and reveal everything he knows about the Dark Dragon troop movements."

"Let's hope so, boss." Bo shook his head. "Because if he doesn't, this place is slag. Even if he hands them the Key, they'll blast Auria into complete and total submission anyways just to make sure it doesn't turn on them when they're moving down into Bleak or back up into our home turfs again."

"And we can't have that." Ryu agreed. "We'll figure something out." Several hours later, after Gobi and Nuzi had closed up, the group snuck through the streets towards Ross' house.

"This is unnatural." Karn complained. "In broad daylight, we're doing this. And what's worse is we're getting away with it."

"Would you realy prefer that we didn't?" Bo asked. The young thief considered it for a moment.

"Artistically or situationally?" Ryu rolled his eyes.

"Enough, you two. Keep it quiet, we're here." Ross' house with the Light Tower loomed over them. Karn rubbed his hands together.

"Right, I'm up. Watch and learn." Scrambling onto a large statue, he jumped from there onto a nearby walltop. Taking a quick look for guards, he edged around behind Ross' house and disappeared from view. A few tense minutes passed, and then the front door swung open. Karn beckoned them in, doing his best impression of a snooty butler. "Enter, and be welcome... but don't track mud."

"Why didn't you just use a window?" Nina asked. Karn made a rude noise.

"Windows are for amateurs. Besides, that's where security is tightest... they expect you to go for those. Now, servants' doors to the trash piles out back... those are rarely locked, if they have locks at all. Friend Ross' house was no exception. Come on, before anybody sees us and wonders 'Hm, when did Ross hire a new butler, and why is he having guests at this hour?'"

"Yeah, yeah." Ryu nodded impatiently. "Now, how do we find the safe?" Karn smirked.

"Already done. This way." Leading them through several deserted hallways, he stopped at a set of stairs leading down. "It's in the basement, right?"

"Yup." Nina confirmed. "Good job, Karn. Let's take a look." The stairs led staight to the safe; a massive iron construction twenty feet square. Karn stepped up to it and did some examinations. "Whew... you guys weren't kidding when you said this thing was tough stuff."  
"Can you crack it?" The Princess asked anxiously. Karn snorted, pressing an ear against it.

"Of course. Might take me a bit, though, but I'll do it." As it turned out, it took two hours. Finally, though, he made one last adjustment to a dial, and the entire slab of iron swung open. Behind it, a young girl of about Karn's age jumped in surprise.

"Who-?" Her eyes grew wide with fear. "Are you Dark Dragons? Are you here for... the Light Key?"

"We're not Dark Dragons." Ryu assured her. "Quite the opposite, actually. We ARE here for the Light Key, but only to keep it away from the Dark Dragons. Look, she's from the Wing Clan, and he's from the Forest Clan... would either of those help Dark Dragons?"

"I guess not..." Ross' daughter admitted. "Then... you know about father's plans?"

"It seems they do, indeed, Eliza." A voice from behind them agreed sadly. Everybody spun, hands on their weapons. It was Ross, wearing a bathrobe. Karn stared.

"How did..."

"A feature of the safe that's impossible to detect." Ross informed him. "Whenever it opens, it sets off an alarm in my bedroom." The young thief slapped his own face as Ryu stepped forward angrily.

"You admit it, then. You were going to sell out to the Dark Dragons."

"I had no choice." Ross sighed. "North of here, in an inlet that was once connected to the Cape Tunnel, is a fleet of ships. Auria is a town of money, not war... if they attacked, we would die. Auria would fall quickly. This was the only way."

"I can't believe you, father!" Eliza yelled. "You give in this easily? And you're the High Merchant of Auria?"

"The Dark Dragons are too much." Ross argued. "You don't understand, Eliza... you can't understand."

"Then I'm glad I don't." Ross' daughter shook her head with disgust. "You were never like this when mother was alive... what happened?"

"Your mother..." Ross deflated. "She was headstrong like you, Eliza... she believed that with enough will, anything could be overcome. But then that sickness... that, even she could not conquer..."

"So you figure it's better to give up?" Eliza said fiercely. "If mother was still alive, father... what do you think SHE would tell you to do?"

"If she was here..." Ryu muttered, struck by a sudden thought. Removing the Mirror from Uncle Specs, he looked into it and gasped with surprise. Nina, Bo and Karn looked in as well and stepped back, wide-eyed. Ross' daughter glared at them. "What is it?" Wordlessly, Ryu handed her the Mirror. She stared, as if entranced, then turned to her father. "Dad, I... there's somebody who wants to see you."

"What is..." Ross started, then froze as he looked into the mirror. His wife looked back at him. "Alena? What kind of trick is..." He broke off. Ross' wife was talking now, words that were inaudible to the others. Ross sat down hard on the stone floor, staring into the mirror as he carried on a conversation only he could understand. "You... what? But... what can I do? ...You're right. If... they get the Key... it will only get worse. Yes... yes... no!" He stared at the mirror. "No, please... Alena... I..." The High Merchant of Auria dropped the mirror, on the floor and buried his head in his arms. Nobody spoke or moved. After a few moments, he looked up and handed the mirror gravely to Ryu. "This... is yours. Thank you."

"Father...?" Eliza wondered. Ross slowly nodded.

"Yes. I've come to my senses. I was wrong, Eliza... forgive me." His eyes grew dark. "The Dark Dragons would destroy us anyways. They will come for the Key soon." He turned to Nina and Ryu. "Princess... hero." Ryu jumped a bit at that. "I have no right to ask you this, but..."

"We will help you." Nina answered for all of them. Ross nodded gratefully.

"Then... as my first request... take the Light Key. There is no better place on this world to hide it than with you." Ryu nodded and led his group up the stairs behind Eliza, leaving Ross and his daughter alone. They walked through several rooms, hidden inside Ross' house and then up through the tower itself, with no difficulty. Finally, they emerged in the top room, all of them keeping their eyes carefully shut to avoid blindness from the intense light.

"If there's a guardian spirit up here too, we are SO all going to die." Karn commented as they felt their way to the center and the crystal orb. As Ryu grasped it, the orb shattered, and a small metal object fell into his palm. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The blinding light was gone; through a window in the roof, he saw that the sky was the dark red of sunset.

"Hey guys, open your eyes. It's fine." He looked down at the Light Key in his hands. Like the others, it was a thing of beauty, carved entirely of gold and still faintly glowing. The top was a circular disk with three needle-sharp spines protruding evenly around, and the bottom, like the others, was uniquely fitted. "That's number four. Three to go." He grinned. "Man, Emperor Zog is going to go volcanic when he hears about this."

"That's probably not the best thing to be talking about right now considering where we are, boss." Bo cautioned. "Come on, let's go down and see what Auria can do to fight back." Returning to the basement, they joined Ross and Eliza silently. However, when they walked back up to the mansion proper, they found somebody far less welcoming. Captain Zenny Gata, and a full company of guards. And none of them looked in any mood to be bribed.

"Aha! I should have known you'd be behind this, Karn!" Zenny Gata yelled triumphantly. "Stealing the Light Key... are their no limits to your greed? And you three! I didn't like you as soon as I saw you coming in here, but not even I thought you'd stoop this low!"

"Captain Gata, stand down." Ross ordered. The Captain looked at him as if he had just been ordered to do his patrol in his underwear.

"High Merchant, these-"

"I said, STAND DOWN." Ross' eyes flashed. "These people did not steal the Light Key, I gave it to them. They are now charged with protecting it. You may have had your differences with them in the past, but from this point on, you are allies against a much greater problem. The Dark Dragons are coming, Captain, and we must do everything we can to repel them. Am I understood?" Gata hesitated. "I said, AM I UNDERSTOOD?"

"Y... yes, sir." Zenny Gata saluted him, then much more slowly, Ryu. "Sir."

"I know this is hard, Captain, but understand we want the exact same thing you do." Ryu told him. "To protect this city. So let's get down to business and figure out how to bust some Dark Dragon skulls, huh?" Gata slowly nodded.

"Yes, I... Dark Dragons!" He snapped to attention. "High Merchant, I also came here to report that a Dark Dragon vessel has arrived in the harbor! There's a Knight who wishes to see you out there!" Ross frowned darkly.

"Here it is, then. Come, everybody... we should go give him his answer." Ross and his daughter, the four travelers, and Gata's guards all walked to Auria's harbor. A ship with the Dark Dragon flag was anchored halfway in. Much closer was a beautiful new ship with the Aurian flag. In front of that one, a man wearing a long blue seacoat and a tricorn hat was talking with a Dark Dragon Knight and archer.

"Ah, Captain Role." Ross smiled. "Have you been keeping our guests entertained?" Role started to reply, but the Knight rudely shoved him aside.

"Enough pleasantries." He was a younger officer with a thin, finely trimmed mustache. "High Merchant Ross, I am Sir Rabite of the Dark Dragon Empire, and we are here to recieve the Light Key."

"You don't say." Ross smiled pleasantly. "Unfortunately, the Light Key has been lost. I don't have it any more. You and the Empire have our most sincere apologies." Rabite sneered.

"Is that so? You're a fool, High Merchant, if you think you can get away with this. We'll burn Auria to the ground!"

"Really now." Ryu frowned, stepping forward. "You sure talk a lot for a Knight. Somebody might take offense if you keep that up... wouldn't you say, Captain?" He inclined his head towards Zenny Gata, who stepped forward as well, frowning.

"Indeed somebody might, Sir Ryu. Maybe we should teach these impertinent pups a lesson in good manners."

"That sounds like an excellent idea to me." Ryu unbuckled his sword and let it drop to the ground. "Won't need this, though... not for clowns like you." Rabite laughed and drew his sword as the archer fitted an arrow.

"You'll regret OOF!" He grunted as Ryu and Gata fell upon him and the unlucky archer with their fists. The others simply watched, amused, wincing slightly at a particularly gruesome cracking or squishing noise, usually accompanied by a scream.

"I didn't know arms bent THAT way." Karn remarked to Bo.

"They're not supposed to." Bo answered.

"Aah."

"Hey, kick him there again!" Nina called. "He made a great noise when... yeah, that's the spot!" After a few brutal minutes, the two unlucky Dark Dragons were tossed off the harbor in the general direction of their ship. The archer sank like a rock, but Rabite made a bold effort, floundering towards it with all his might.

"He swims pretty good for a guy with a broken arm and leg." Ryu noticed. "Think he'll make it?" Gata frowned.

"Looks like it. Think we should have broken the other arm too?"

"Probably..." Ryu bit his lip. Rabite was being hauled onto the ship now. "Damn. Bo! Waste him!" Unfortunately, before Bo could fire, Rabite had been hauled onto the deck and hustled below. Almost immediately, the Dark Dragon ship took off, but not before firing all of its cannons into Ross' new ship. With a wooden groan, the ship sank into the water and was gone. Laughing, the soldiers on the ship sailed it away to the north.

"Sigh... well, we knew it would come to this." Ross admitted. "They'll be back tomorrow... they won't sail at night, but once the sun's up again..."

"Yeah." Ryu frowned. "We may be in trouble."

"Now, hold on." Captain Role walked over to them. "High Merchant, do we know where their ships are located?"

"Well, yes." Ross admitted. "That inlet up north... the one the Cape Tunnel used to go to. Why?"

"Figures... that's where I'd do it." The naval Captain thought for a moment. "So... what would happen if were to go there tonight and attack THEM first by surprise?" Zenny Gata frowned.

"Impossible. There's no way there except that tunnel, and that fork that goes to the inlet is caved in."

"Excuse me..." A new voice piped up. Everybody turned to see a fat orange Maniro watching them. Ross frowned.

"Aren't you Gobi, the cousin of Nuzi?"

"That's me." Gobi nodded. "And I may have a solution to your problems. Gunpowder. That'll blast that cavein wide open!" 

"Gunpowder..." Ryu mused. "Yes, that would do it. Ross, do you..."

"As I said before, we're a merchant city, not a war city." Ross shook his head. "We have no gunpowder, even on our ships."

"Then do I have a deal for you!" Gobi grinned widely. "I've got a barrel of it I found a little while back."

"Cut to the chase, merchant." Zenny Gata growled. "How much are you going to skin us for it?" Gobi's grin became, if possible, even wider.

"Oh, I'd say... sixty-five thousand Zenny."

"Hey, isn't that the price for one of your cousin's gold bars?" Ryu asked. Gobi nodded.

"You got it. He's really been riding my tail about stocking those recently, so I figure I'll buy one myself to shut him up."

"If there's one thing I can contribute to our cause, it's money." Ross decided. "You have a deal, merchant. Bring the gunpowder to the Cape Tunnel, and you'll recieve your money."

"And then we'll have a very nasty surprise for our friends up north." Ryu grinned evilly.

"All right, this thing's set." Gobi whispered. "Somebody give me a match, and then everybody back off." Bo solemnly handed him one and followed the others back down the Cape Tunnel, around a bend. A few moments passed, and then Gobi joined them. "Just a bit more and-" The rest of his words were drowned out by the massive explosion. Dust and small rocks fell from the ceiling, knocked loose by the sounds alone. Everybody waited several moments, then looked. No trace of the cavein remained; the way ahead led to the outside. They emerged on a high point, overlooking the rest of the inlet. Down below, they could see several hastily constructed guard shacks. Beyond those, anchored out in the water, were ten Dark Dragon warships.

"So, what's the plan?" Captain Gata asked. He and Captain Role, along with his men, had accompanied the four travelers.

"Well, first we need to get rid of those guards." Ryu decided. "Karn and Bo, can you do that without anybody noticing?" The thief and the archer nodded. "Good. After you take care of that, we'll go down there and check out the ships. We'll sneak aboard them, steal the best one, and smash holes in the rest!"

"My men are rather good at smashing." Captain Gata admitted. "Sounds like a plan."

"We'll get started, then." Karn disappeared almost instantly. Bo looked at the spot where he had been and shrugged, then vanished into a clump of trees.

"Are those two really that good?" Captain Role asked. Gata laughed.

"Believe me, I know Karn is. I'll never tell him it, but I'm glad he's on my side now. That kid's the best Bleak's turned out as long as I can remember."

"And Bo's the number one archer from the Forest Clan. He can have five arrows in the air at once. They'll be fine." Nina assured them. "So, who do you think'll be in charge here?"

"A Captain..." Ryu guessed. "I'm sure of it."

"Captain, eh?" Role frowned. "Well, that's not saying much... me and Gata are both Captains, but in very different ways. I don't know much about Dark Dragon millitary hierarchy, I gotta admit."

"Well..." Nina thought for a moment. "There's Knights, first... they're the lowest rank. Each Knight commands a company of a hundred. Above them are the Generals... there were ten of them, until we took out two. I think they have a legion of a thousand each. Captains are technically on the same level as Generals, except that they're officers in the fleet. And there's only five of them, so they tend to boss the Generals around a bit."

"Makes sense." Captain Gata nodded.

"Now. Above the Captains is the leader of the army, Admiral Cean." Nina continued. "He's human, not a Dark Dragon, but he's apparently a strategic genius and a pretty hard case to face in person as well. He's the man who's done all the actual planning on the invasions of the Lands of the East. The only ones above HIM are the Tiamat Unit and Emperor Zog himself."

"Er... and the Tiamat Unit are?" Captain Role asked. "I've heard rumors, but not much else."

"They were formed ten years ago... right before the Fusion Clan Massacre." Nina's eyes grew dark. "They're not millitary officers... special forces would be a better term, I guess. There are five members... their names are Cort, Mote, Cerl, Goda and Jade, but most people know them as the Blue Alchemist, the Red Dreammaster, the White Assassin, the Black Warrior and the Gold Lord. Aside from that, I'm afraid I don't know much about them, but just about everybody in the army does what they say."

"That much respect, eh?" Captain Gata frowned. Ryu shook his head.

"No. That much fear."

"Lovely way of doing things." Bo remarked dryly as he and Karn rejoined the group. "Guards are all taken care of, and nobody's noticed on the ships. They look like they're just leaning against walls."

"Good." Ryu nodded. "Captain Role, you'll be able to tell us which ship's the best one, right?"

"Easily." The Captain confirmed. As they got close, he pointed at one without doubt. "I can already see... that one. The _Scylla_. It'll probably be where the Captain is."

"All right, the four of us will deal with that one." Ryu decided. "Captain Gata, have your men bash the rest open-preferrably without THEIR men noticing. When you're done, come join us onboard the _Scylla_."

"Done." Captain Gata went back to get his guards. Ryu rubbed his hands together.

"All right then, let's steal a ship! Nina, if you don't mind?" The Princess flew up and dropped the boarding ramp. As the other three walked aboard, an enemy soldier emerged above deck.

"Ah, 'bout time my shift was up..." He grumbled, not seeing them. Silently, Nina moved above him and drove her rapier through his skull. Like wraiths, they moved below the deck, eliminating soldiers one or two at a time. Finally, they reached the Captain's cabin. Dropping any sense of stealth, Ryu kicked the door in.

"What? Who dares-?" The Captain saw them and jumped away. "Aha! You're from Auria... wait. Blue hair... Ryu! You're the Light Dragon terrorist!"

"I see my reputation is preceeding me nowadays." Ryu smiled. "And you're the Captain in charge of these ships?"

"That I am." The Captain gave a stiff half-bow. "Captain Suish of the Dark Dragon Empire."

"Very well, Captain." Ryu drew his sword. "We challenge you, here and now, for mastery of your ship, the _Scylla_."

"As you wish." Suish nodded, but he did not draw a weapon. Instead, he began glowing. "I must admit, there's no way you and your friends could get your kind of reputation on luck alone. You ARE good... but I'm better!" His skin turned green.

"He's transforming! Like Graham!" Bo yelled unneccessarily. Suish's arms and legs were splitting, dviding into thick tentacles. His main body was shifting upwards, becoming a conelike mass with fins on the side. His eyes grew red and moved to just above the tentacles, and above them on the main body was a gaping, fang-filled maw that no true mollusk would have. The giant monster squid reared back and thrashed the air with its legs in challenge.

"Geez! I didn't know he was going to do THAT!" Karn yelled. Nina flew up and began casting spells to increase her allies' power as Ryu transformed into a Fire Whelp.

"You're not the only shape-changer, pal!" Ryu yelled, spewing blast of fire into the Squid's face. It responded by launching a glob of pink slime from its own maw, and Ryu was struck in the shoulder. The scum was acidic, and stuck like glue.

"Cheap shot!" Bo yelled, firing a couple arrows into the maw and following them with a fireblast of his own. Growling, the Squid charged forward and knocked the archer flat. As he did, however, knives and claws from Karn and Ryu raked his side. Angrily, he tried to turn, but on land, tentacles were not exactly designed for doing that very fast. By the time he was facing Ryu, both sides were covered with deep slash marks. Now even angrier, the Squid did not stop turning, but instead sped up. Once it was spinning at an impressive speed, it began firing slimeballs indiscriminately. Most missed, but a few struck each of them.

"Ow! You stupid-!" Ryu hissed, covering the Squid with more fire relentlessly. It kept on going, despite the terrible burning of its flesh. Then Karn dashed forward and severed one of the tentacles with his knife. Now the Squid stopped; knocked off balance by the loss of its appendage, and Karn struck; racing up the horribly gouged and charred mollusk, he plunged both arms into the maw, knives first. For a moment, the maw seemed to close, read to bite them off... and then it gaped open again and the Squid slumped to the floor, unmoving. One eye still had a bit of glimmer in it.

"You... win. But... beware. My brother... will seek... revenge once he... learns of this. Ha ha ha..." The glimmer faded. Ryu shrugged and reverted to his human form.

"Right... whatever. Let's go back up on deck and see if Captain Gata's there yet." As it turned out, he was, with all his men.

"We're ready whenever you are." He saluted. Ryu turned to Captain Role.

"Just tell us what to do, Captain." Role nodded and did so, taking his place at the wheel. Within five minutes, the _Scylla_ was heading out to sea. Almost immediately, surprised and angry shouts came from the other ships. It wasn't long before the first of them began following, with the others close behind.

It took even less time before the _Scylla_ was alone on the ocean.

Two mornings later, the four travelers left Auria's finest Inn and walked down to the docks. The _Scylla_ was waiting, with Captain Role at the helm, and so were Ross and Eliza.

"Ryu, thank you." Eliza smiled. "Thank you all. From now on, there will be no secrets from the people of Auria like this... we will all work together to protect the city." Ross nodded.

"Zog misuses his power. We won't do the same. We're sending emissaries to the lands both south and north of us... maybe it's time we gave an alliance another try." He frowned. "Be careful, all of you. Now that you've cleared the Dark Dragons out of Auria as well, their remaining forces in the East will be concentrated in the lands of the Builder Clan and the ocean around Prima. And they'll definitely be looking for you."

"We'll make sure to watch out, High Merchant." Ryu assured him. "Ready to go, Captain?" Role nodded.

"It's only a crew of five, but I couldn't ask for better! Let's go!"

"Wait! Wait for me!" A now-familiar voice yelled from behind them. It was Gobi, and he was running as hard as he could, laden with several heavy-looking packs. When he reached them, he tried to grin, but he was breathing too hard. "Could I... huff... go with you... puff...?"

"Come with us?" Nina frowned. "Why?"

"Well..." Gobi regained his breath. "Me and my cousin have had a bit of a falling out. Could you just drop me off wherever you're going? I figure I'll set up a place of my own somewhere. I don't care where, as long as it's a town. I can do duties as a sailor, and I'll cook. What do you say?"

"I don't know..." Nina said uncertainly. Now Gobi gave his best persuasive grin.

"Come on! The more the merrier!"

"Sure, why not." Bo shrugged. "I don't care if you tag along. Boss?"

"If Captain Role doesn't mind, it's okay with me." Ryu nodded.

"Thank you." Gobi bowed. "I won't be a problem, I promise."

"All right, then! Hoist the main sail!" Captain Role shouted. Ross and Eliza waved as they left the ship. "Raise the anchor!" The _Scylla_ took off, and Ryu grinned.

"So much for the land... ocean, ho!"


	9. Chapter 8: Something Fishy

**__**

Chapter 8: Something Fishy

"Ah, this is the life." Karn grinned cheekily. The young thief was relaxing on the deck of the ship without a care in the world. "Sun, surf, sailing..."

"Seaweed..." Bo added, dropping a large lump of the slimy plant on Karn's head. "Get up, lazybones. You need to adjust the sail again."

"Me? Why me?" Karn demanded, brushing off his unwanted hat.

"Well, let's see..." Bo ticked the reasons off on his fingers as he spoke. "Captain Role's steering. Ryu's still going through the cabins. Nina's on lookout. Gobi's fixing dinner. That leaves you and me. I have a fear of heights, while you scamper around high places like a monkey."

"All merely circumstantial, my friend." Karn waved his hand nonchalantly. Bo glared.

"I can throw you up there if I have to. How's that?"

"All right, all right, don't get excited." Muttering to himself, the nimble thief scaled the mainmast.

"Bo, if you're not doing anything, the bilges need pumping!" Captain Role yelled from the wheel. Karn snickered. The Forest Clanner gave him another glare, then stomped down belowdecks. Ryu, who had been watching all of this, chuckled as he added more potentially useful things he had found in the cabins to the pile.

"Having fun, Karn?"

"Aren't I always?" The irrepressable thief called back. Despite his complaining to Bo, Karn had taken to nautical life like a fish. Captain Role had taught him how to set the rigging and he was instantly an expert, looking for all the world like he had been working with sails and ropes his entire life. Chuckling, Ryu walked over to Captain Role.

"So, where exactly are we headed, Captain?"

"Well, you want to go to the western lands, correct?" Role asked. Ryu nodded. "Well then, the best place to dock would probably be Gust. That's about as far away from Scande as we're likely to get, so it'll be the easiest place to unload you and your friends without getting spotted by the Dark Dragons. And Gobi, of course."

"Yeah..." Ryu shifted uncomfortably. "Captain, what do you think of Gobi? I mean, why do you think he needed to leave Auria so suddenly by boat? I know he and Nuzi had a falling-out, but why couldn't he just go back to Prima where most of his Clan are?"

"Who knows, my friend?" Role shrugged. "That's really his business, not ours. He's been a good crewman so far, and as long as he stays that way, I don't care what his rationale is."  
"Dark Dragons ho!" Nina suddenly yelled from the lookout. "Three ships, approaching head on! About ten minutes away!"

"Shit!" Ryu cursed. He thought for a moment. "All right, this isn't hopeless. Role, Karn, over here. Nina, get belowdeck with Bo and Gobi. Tell them what's going on, and the three of you stay down there!" Nina nodded and flew down. Karn jumped down from the rigging.

"What's the plan, boss?"

"Disguise." Reaching into the pile of things from the cabins, Ryu pulled out a breastplate of Dark Dragon armor and tossed it to Karn. "This should be your size. Put it on."

"You're not serious!" Karn exclaimed. Ryu didn't even look at him.

"Deadly serious. Look for more your size when you've got that on, then get up to the crow's nest. You might not be normal Dark Dragon soldier material, but you'll pass for human if they don't get a good look at you, since you don't have wings, fur or scales. Now get moving!"

Several minutes later, the Dark Dragon ship _Charybdis_ approached the _Scylla_, with two lesser ships alongside. Captain Calim frowned as he looked his brother's ship over. "Strange... only three men abovedecks. Hey, you!" The soldier who was scrubbing the decks looked up. "Yeah, you! Where's everybody else?"

"They're all sleeping it off, sir!" The soldier called back. "Things got a little rowdy before we left Auria yesterday!"

"I'll bet!" Calim laughed. "Where's that lazy brother of mine, then?"

"Captain Suish?" The scrawny-looking soldier on lookout responded. "He drank more than any of the others! He'll be out of it all day!"

"That's my brother, all right, the lazy fool!" Calim howled. "Well, when he wakes up, tell him we made the exchange! I'll be heading to Auria now, and you can follow these two back to the rest of the fleet! Admiral Cean will be arriving soon, so give him my regards, too!" Ryu sighed under his breath; it was working. Unfortunately, it was at that exact moment that their luck betrayed them.

"What the-Captain Calim, look!" One of the soldiers on the _Charybdis_ pointed to the Scylla's portholes. Calim stared.

"A Maniro!" Ryu groaned and made a mental note to flatten Gobi if they made it out alive. Calim was no longer looking amused. "What's going on here? Stop this vessel right now, scalawags!"

"Um... I don't suppose we can talk this over?" Karn suggested as he swung down to the main deck and Captain Role joined them. Calim, however, looked in no mood for talk; the other two boats were swinging around to the _Scylla_'s sides.

"All right, everybody get up here! Especially you, Gobi!" Ryu yelled. The other three were on the deck in a flash. Gobi chuckled nervously.

"Um... uh-oh? Why do I get the feeling I chose the wrong ship to hitch a ride on?"

"Yeah, you did." Ryu growled. "We'll deal with you later. For now, anybody have any ideas?"

"Attack, is about all I can think of." Karn suggested.

"There's too many!" Captain Role argued. "We can't take them all on! We should retreat..."

"No... we can't! Didn't you hear them? He's heading for Auria!" Nina reminded the Captain. "We can't match three boatloads, but if we can kill the Dark Dragon Captain, the others might run."

"Besides, it's not like we can retreat with them surrounding us like this." Bo reminded them. "We're just lucky they haven't used their cannons yet. It looks like the Captain wants to deal with us personally..."

"Hold it!" Gobi exclaimed. Everybody turned to glare at him, but the Maniro was smiling. "Everybody, remember? This is a war ship... so there's plenty of gun powder on here! If we blow it up, it'll take all these guys out and we can escape!"  
"And then we'll drown triumphantly." Karn shook his head. "You've been sticking your head in the cannons, haven't you?"

"I'm a Maniro, remember?" Gobi grinned. "The ocean is my turf. I'll make sure you all come out fine!"

"I don't think we're going to get a better idea." Nina reluctantly agreed. Ryu growled, then gave in.

"Fine. But I think we have a problem to deal with first!" The Dark Dragon Captain was boarding.

"Me and Gobi will get to the gun powder." Captain Role decided. "You four, hold him off!"  
"Right!" Bo drew his weapon.

"Before we fight, one question." Calim spoke calmly as he approached, but inwardly he was seething. "What did you do with my brother, Suish?"

"He attacked us. We killed him." Ryu shrugged. "Fortunes of war, Captain."

"I see." Calim nodded slowly. "Then you won't take offense when I rip you all into tiny pieces and throw you to the fish. Fortunes of war, after all."

"Not at all... if you can." Ryu grinned at him. "Come on, Captain!"

"The name is Calim... and you must be Ryu, the Light Dragon rebel!" Calim realized as he began glowing. "You're quite famous! I'll present the Goddess Keys to Emperor Zog in my brother's name... after I pry them from your severed fingers!"

"He's transforming! Go, go, go!" Ryu yelled at Gobi and Role, who bolted as the Light Dragon began his own transformation. The other three took up positions around Calim as he, like his brother, slowly became a humongous mollusk. Calim, however, was blood red, at least half again as large as Suish had been, and resembled an octopus more than a squid.

"Gee, I wonder which one was the older brother." Karn muttered. Shrieking, the Octo lashed out at them with a tentacle each, remaining upright on the other four. Ryu shrieked back, now a Thunder Whelp, and fried his tentacle with a blast of lightning. Nina easily flew out of reach and began raining enhancing spells on the group. Bo and Karn, however, were in trouble; as they attacked, they took numerous heavy blows. Breaking off his attack on the tentacle, which was black and crispy, Ryu went for the head.

"Oh, no you don't!" The Octo gave vent to a bubbly scream, and spat a glob of some vile slime from the mouth above his eyes right into Ryu's face. The ooze was acidic, and Ryu went down, clawing it off. Breaking off from the others, the Octo began brutally slamming him with every tentacle available, using them like hundred-pound whips. He ignored the blasts and stabs from the other three, madly slashing at Ryu until blood was pouring from a dozen openings in the Light Dragon's scales. Screaming, Ryu tried to rise, but each time, the Octo smashed him back down.

"Let him GO!" Nina yelled, ramming her rapier into the fleshy top of the mollusk over and over, but the Octo ignored her.

"DIE, Light Dragon!" He howled, actually crying with rage. "Die, like my brother! Die like the beaten dog you are! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"He's completely snapped!" Karn yelled to his comrades. "He won't stop until he's dead or Ryu is!"

"Then we'll have to accelerate that first option!" Bo told him. "You two, stick your weapons into that mouth! Make sure the handles are pointing up! Go!" Nodding, Karn hopped onto the Octo's head and rammed both his daggers in. Nina followed with her rapier. The Octo didn't even notice; he just continued wailing around them. Bo nodded. "Get off! NOW!" As they scrambled to safety, he summoned forth every scrap of magical power he had. From the sky, a lightning bolt wider than the Forest Clanner's body blasted down with two thinner bolts rotating it. All three smashed into the weapons, and from there straight into the Octo's innards. The stench of over-cooked fish filled the air, and the light was blinding. When they could look again, the heroes saw the Octo still standing upright, although his skin was a charred black. Ryu was lying in front of him, turning back into his humanoid form. The Octo slowly raised a tentacle.

"If I die... you're going to hell with... me..." But he tentacle would not move. "What... no, I... Brother... I'm... sorry..." The tentacle lowered. The Octo slumped to the deck, and his eyes dimmed. Ryu slowly got to his feet.

"Damn..."

"What's wrong?" Nina flew over to support him. "We got him, right?"

"Yeah... and some more soldiers got below deck!" Ryu hissed. The other three whirled around to stare at the door, which was gaping widely. "I saw... but I couldn't stop them..."

"And we were too busy concentrating on Calim!" Bo cursed and ran for the door, but something came flying back out. It was a Dark Dragon soldier, and it appeared to have been impaled through the chest. A moment later, it was followed by Gobi, who was wielding a long pike.

"Come on, move! The ship's about to blow!" He hurled himself at them, rushing them towards the rail. Even as they leaped, they heard a tremendous noise beneath their feet. "If this doesn't work, don't blame me!" The Maniro yelled. Before any of them could reply, something behind them propelled them forward, they hit the water, and everything went dark.

"Ugh..." Ryu slowly regained consciousness. The sun was blazing right into his eyes. Covering them, he peered around.

"About time you woke up!" Nina greeted him. The others were lying nearby, save Gobi, who was doing something to some kind of brown, hairy nut. "We were starting to think you were going to sleep until next year."

"We're all fine, by the way." Karn informed him. "Well, as fine as one can be when they're stuck on a tiny desert island in the middle of the ocean with no boat, anyways."  
"Be glad there was an island at all." Bo grunted. "Think about where he would have dumped us if there wasn't."

"Is that any way to talk about the guy who saved your lives?" Gobi asked cheerfully as he joined them. The nut he held was bigger than his head and looked harder than a rock. "Here, Ryu. Drink from this." He indicated a hole in the side. Ryu stared.

"You're serious."

"It's coconut milk." Gobi informed him. "It's not fine wine, I know, but it's all that's here... unless you'd like to drink ocean water."

"I'll pass on that option." Ryu reluctantly drank deeply from the nut. It actually didn't taste too bad.

"Sorry about the rough stuff, by the way." Gobi continued. "I didn't expect that explosion to be so big. We were lucky to escape with our lives..." The fins on the sides of his head drooped. "Well... most of us..."

"Most...?" Ryu blinked, then looked around again. "Hey... where's Captain Role?" Nina, Bo and Karn all looked away.

"He... didn't make it, Ryu." Gobi sighed finally. "When... the Dark Dragons came down below, he ordered me to run up and get you all out alive while he took care of the gunpowder. He was still near ground zero when the whole place exploded. If it didn't kill him... I couldn't find him in the water."

"Damn..." Ryu pounded the ground. "Another friend killed by the Dark Dragons... another piece to take out of Emperor Zog's hide..." Gobi nodded.

"Yeah... wait, what!" The Maniro stared at him. "Did you say... Zog? You're going after Emperor Zog!"

"You got it." Nina agreed. "We're going to bring down the Dark Dragon Empire or die trying." Gobi shook his head, whistling.

"Wow. I really picked a winner on that boat." He shrugged. "Well, it's not really my business anymore... it's been nice, folks. Maybe we'll meet again someday."

"Huh?" Karn suddenly jumped to his feet. "Wait a second! You're not just leaving us here, are you?"

"What else can I do?" Gobi shook his head. "We're too far away from land for me to bring you guys there. And it's not like you can breathe underwater." Bo stared at him.

"So we just stay here for the rest of our lives? Come on, Gobi! There's got to be something!"

"Well..." Gobi scratched his chin. "Wait. There is. The artificial Gills."

"I've heard of those!" Nina exclaimed. "They have those in Prima, home city of the Maniros!"

"And by some marvelous coincidence, I can go to Prima!" Gobi smiled. "However, there is a matter of the cost..." Ryu groaned.

"Why am I not surprised by this."  
"Hey, those things are expensive!" Gobi defended himself. "AND, there's the fact that going into Prima is, well... dangerous for me..."

"And what does THAT mean?" Bo demanded. Gobi muttered something. "What was that?"

"I said... I'm an outlaw." Gobi repeated. "I got my merchant's license revoked... I'm not even supposed to set foot in the city."

"The Maniros revoked one of their own kind's merchant license? What did you DO?" Karn yelled. The Maniro clan were known the world over for their greed and love of commerce. Every Maniro in the world was working for the Merchant's Guild of Prima in some way or another. It was not entirely a joke to say that the species worshipped money more than they did Ladon. For them to forbid one of their own from practicing was akin to an excommunication.

"I... was selling fake Happiness Jars." Gobi groaned. "Open the jar, make a wish, and in a few years it'll be granted. The genie-in-a-bottle thing, made realistic and profitable."

"And, of course, it was complete bull." Bo shook his head. "How do we know you won't take OUR money and give us nothing?" Gobi looked offended.

"I have learned much in the years of my exile! When my cousin Nuzi agreed to let me help him run his shop, I picked up a great deal from him! A changed Maniro am I, I assure you!"

"Yeah, and I'm a Mole Clanner." Bo shook his head. "Ryu, are we really going to do this?"

"Don't have much choice, Bo." Ryu glumly nodded. "Not like the money would do us much good here. Get to the point, Gobi. How much do you want?" Gobi's eyes glinted.

"Oh, I'd say... one million Zenny should cover it..."

"EXCUSE ME?" The four heroes' eyes looked like they were about to bug out of their heads.

"You heard me." Gobi smiled. "Like I said, very expensive and very risky for me. This, I'm not accepting any bargaining on. Take it or leave it."

"We don't HAVE a million Zenny, you fishy fool!" Karn yelled. "How the hell WOULD we?"

"Oh, I'll be happy to take what you have now and loan you the rest. I don't expect payment on delivery... I trust you guys." Gobi's smile widened. "I know you'll make good on it." Ryu looked like he was going to argue more, but then he sighed and slumped back to the sand.

"A million, Gobi?"

"A million, Ryu." Gobi insisted. The Light Dragon waved his hand in surrender and tossed the Maniro his wallet.

"All right, get going. Move. You've got a deal, just as long as you get us four sets of artificial Gills so we can get off this island." Gobi bowed deeply.

"A deal it is then, my friends. And as a bonus, when I return, I'll even teach you how to walk on the ocean floor and bring you to Prima. Until I come back, enjoy the sun. It really is a nice little island." Grabbing his pike from the beach, he dived into the water and was gone.

"Ugh..." Gobi slowly regained consciousness. He was lying on the floor of the Temple of Ladon back in Prima. Everything was still blurry, but somebody was standing over him. He squinted. It was the statue of Ladon, except it was moving. And smiling. Gobi shook his head. "All right, I'm still unconscious." Even back before his exile, Gobi had rarely visited this temple. He was not at all a religious Maniro. Therefore, he considered it highly improbable that God was appearing personally before him now. He closed his eyes and reopened them. Ladon was still there.

"Got in trouble, didn't you, buddy?" The Dragon God smiled. Gobi gave in and decided to play along.

"Well... yeah. Last thing I remember was bolting for here with a pack of Dogfish snapping at my heels. It's been too long since I was under the ocean. I'm rusty with fighting off the monsters."

"Well, you'll pick that back up over time." Ladon encouraged him. "Good thing we were nearby, though, or you'd be fish food. We rescued you and brought you back here. You feeling okay now?"

"I guess..." Gobi held his forehead. "Still a little woozy, though." Ladon nodded, and then his smile vanished.

"Good, Gobi. Now, be about your duty and return to Ryu. You are one of those destined to accompany Ryu, and another is close to you even now. Find him, and return, Gobi, lest the world fall into eternal darkness."

"Huh...?" Gobi closed his eyes again. This time, when he opened them, Ladon was gone and another Maniro was there, with purple scales.

"I said, if you're feeling fine, you should go see the High Merchant. Everybody who comes in or out of Prima has to okay it with him these days."

"Right..." Gobi shook his head. "Sorry 'bout that, bud... head's still wierd. Thanks for saving me from those Dogfish." The Maniro grinned.

"Hey, no problem. Good luck, buddy." Gobi started to leave, then stopped.

"Oh... what was with that thing you said about 'destined to accompany'?" The Maniro blinked, nonplussed.

"Huh? I didn't say anything like that. You sure you're feeling all right?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Gobi shrugged, waved, and walked out.

Prima was unchanged, much to Gobi's relief. Straight roads between tall buildings in an orderly pattern, all made out of coral, were filled with hundreds of Maniros and other people rushing back and forth, yelling, haggling, bargaining, buying, selling, trading, and generally engaging in commerce. Gobi sighed blissfully.

"Ah, home again." He took a moment more to relax, then got moving. Shops and stands on the sides of the road screamed for his attention, but Gobi had not been away from Prima so long as to allow himself to be sidetracked. He made a beeline for the coral building with a teacup carved above its door; a bar, run by an old friend of his. "He'll know who I am, of course, but maybe he won't turn me in." Gobi muttered to himself as he entered.

"Just a second, bud." The bartender called, his back turned to the door. "Take a seat." Gobi did so, smiling. After a moment, the bartender looked at him. "All right, what'll you... ha... ve..."

"Hey, Trout! Been a while!" Gobi grinned. "Get me the usual, will you?" Trout slowly nodded. He poured two mugs and walked over, sitting down next to Gobi.

"Gobi, what are you doing here?" He whispered as the exiled Maniro took a drink. "You know what'll happen if the High Merchant catches you?"

"Risk I have to take, Trout." Gobi explained. "Some of my friends are stranded on a desert island. They need the artificial Gills, or they'll never get offa there." Trout snorted into his drink.

"Hoo! Good luck with THAT, bud! These days, the only one allowed to sell those Gills is High Merchant Gartes himself!" Gobi said something rude and pounded the countertop.

"Why the hell is THAT?"

"Dark Dragons, my friend." Trout shook his head gloomily. "Most of 'em aren't equipped for underwater fighting, so they can't attack Prima directly, but they've been cutting off our transport lines." Gobi gritted his teeth.

"Bastards..."

"Yeah." Trout agreed. "It's no secret that they want us under their fists, so the High Merchant's been forced to really crack down on who can get here... Gill sale is for him only, and everybody entering or leaving the city has to check with him... how'd you get past that, anyways?"

"I was attacked by Dogfish and dragged into the city unconscious." Gobi explained sardonically. Trout smirked.

"Yeah, that'd do it. But you'll still have to go to Gartes if you want Gills." Gobi shook his head glumly.

"That's going to be unpleasant, but I've got no choice. Thanks for warning me, anyways, bud. I'll see you around sometime if they don't stick me on my own pike and label me a kabob." Flipping a few Zenny onto the counter, Gobi left and morosely headed for the largest building in town, which had a Maniro's head sculpture sticking out above it. The Maniro at the desk did a double-take as he walked in.

"Gobi! What are YOU doing here? You were exiled!"

"I'm back." Gobi sighed heavily. "Listen, I need to talk to the High Merchant. It's important."

"Must be, for you to risk your neck like this." The desk Maniro turned to a back room. "Hey, boss! You got a visitor!"

"Send him on back!" Another voice yelled. The desk Maniro shrugged, and Gobi walked on. As he entered, the Maniro in the back room turned and jumped.

"GOBI! Give me one good reason I shouldn't put you in chains for coming back here!" High Merchant Gartes was a stupendously fat Maniro with deep blue scales and bright red lips. "And here I hoped that losing your license had taught you a lesson! What on earth could drive you to come back here and show your face right in my office?"

"I need some artificial Gills, my lord." Gobi explained nervously. "Friends of mine... stranded on a desert island... no other way off." Gartes' eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You came here on behalf of friends? You, Gobi? Hmph... well, it doesn't matter. We don't have 'em. We're all out."

"What!" Gobi was stunned. "All out!" Gartes nodded.

"Yeah, and we can't get the parts to make any more because the Ladon-damned Dark Dragons are cutting off our transport lines! If you really need 'em, though, you could try Gant. We sent a big shipment off there before this started. They might still have some." Gobi nodded.

"Thank you, my lord. I'll be off, then."

"Just a moment." Gartes continued. Gobi halted instantly. "Gobi... if you're really doing this for somebody besides yourself... be careful in Gant. That's Dark Dragon territory now... just surrendered last month." Gobi slowly nodded.

"Thanks... boss."

"Admiral Cean!" A soldier ran into the throne room of Nabal Castle. The man on the throne looked at him coldly.

"Soldier, what is so important that you would interrupt our strategic planning? Keep in mind that if I don't like your answer, you may be thrown from the top of the castle." The soldier gulped.

"Sir... uh... one of the prisoners has escaped!"

"WHAT!" Cean pounded both arms of his throne. "Escaped? How?"

"We don't know, sir!" The soldier babbled. "The only ways out are the main gates and that abandoned escape tunnel, but that's blocked off by a boulder!"

"IDIOT!" Cean yelled. "A boulder? If he's from the Builder Clan, of COURSE he can move a boulder! Don't let any of the other prisoners NEAR it, do you understand me? Keep them strictly under control!" The terrified soldier nodded. "Good. Now, go!" The soldier ran off. Cean sighed. "It's so hard to find good help these days..."

"You should have killed him, Admiral." A heavy, guttural voice advised. Cean glanced around sharply, recognizing it. A moment later, a huge figure walked out of the shadows. Nine feet tall and built like a bodybuilder on steroids, the bald man's skin was strangely blood red. He wore an incredibly heavy-looking suit of grey and green armor that not even a member of the Builder Clan would have been comfortable in. Cean bowed deeply. There were only six people in the world Admiral Cean, commander of the entire Dark Dragon millitary, bowed to, and this was one of them.

"My lord Goda, we did not expect you." Goda, the Black Warrior of the Tiamat Unit, nodded slowly.

"That's right, Admiral. You didn't. I don't like being expected. Much more fun to surprise people... make sure they're on their toes." He grinned, showing teeth that had been filed to points. "Now, then. How are things going here?"

"We've got the entire Clan completely under control." Cean assured him. "They know what will happen if they refuse to work for us, and none of them dare to try our bluff." He smiled humorlessly. "Which is lucky for them, since I never bluff. The torpedo should be ready in a matter of weeks."

"So, why didn't you kill that soldier?" Goda asked, flopping down on a nearby couch. Cean stood and offered him the throne, but the Black Warrior declined. "He screwed up. If that prisoner gets away, it could cause a lot of trouble... and worse, high morale among the other prisoners. Mistakes like that shouldn't be tolerated... it'll make them careless."

"Oh, it won't be." Cean assured him. "But you see, if I simply killed him, it would LOWER morale among the other soldiers. My men like me, Lord Goda. If I started offing them, they wouldn't like me so much anymore. Instead of killing him, I'll just ship him out to the Eastern frontline." Cean shrugged. "Not my fault if he gets killed out there, is it?"

"Admiral, there IS no Eastern frontline any more." Goda growled. The Admiral didn't move.

"Lord Goda... did you say that..."

"That there is no Eastern frontline. Yes, I did." Goda's eyes blazed. "You've heard of Ryu the Light Dragon, I take it."

"That terrorist? Oh, yes." Cean assured his superior. "Him and his friends Princess Nina and Bo the Archer are quite infamous."

"They've just become even moreso." Goda growled. "They were spotted in Auria, along with a thief named Karn. One of the Fusion Clan... and here I thought we stamped them all out. But he's not the point. The point is, soon after that, all of our the ships sent down there, including both the _Scylla_ and the _Charybdis_, disappeared. Captains Calim and Suish are presumed dead, and incidentally, Ryu and his friends aren't in Auria any longer." By this point, Admiral Cean had begun pillaging extinct languages for curse words. "I must admit I had a similar reaction. White's was even worse. She wanted to go down there herself and kill everybody in Auria, but Emperor Zog put his foot down; the Lands of the East appear to be uniting against us, and we can't face that just yet."

"Not until we deal with Prima." Admiral Cean realized. Goda nodded.

"Exactly. Even when we get there, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that both the Light and Dark Keys are already gone. Ryu the Light Dragon has certainly made a career out of screwing up everything we do." He gave Admiral Cean a direct look. It took the Admiral a moment to catch the meaning of it.

"Wait... do you think he's going to be coming HERE?"

"What do you think, Admiral?" Goda responded rhetorically. "You're the biggest spot of Dark Dragon activity right now, and it's not really that far from Auria to here by ship. If you see anybody like them in the area, show no mercy and make no mistakes. You're a very important man in these armies, Admiral. None of us want you to make the same errors as your underlings."

"I won't, Lord Goda." Cean saluted. "If this Light Dragon Ryu shows one scale in my territory, I'll make him wish he'd never been whelped."

"That's the spirit." Goda grinned again. "Now, about that prisoner. Surely, you're not going to just allow him to get away."

"Of course not." Admiral Cean sniffed. "I'll dispatch people right away. He'll be dead within days."

"Would you mind if I helped?" Goda asked. Cean blinked.

"Yourself, Lord Goda?"

"No, not exactly..." The Black Warrior shook his head. "Blue and Red recently gave me a pet... a soul-hunting spirit. If you don't mind, I'll send him after the prisoner in addition to your men. It's a bit overkill, but sometimes that can be fun." Admiral Cean nodded quickly.

"Of course, Lord Goda. I'll tell my men not to worry about or interfere with, ah... a soul-hunting spirit."

"Very well, then." Goda got back to his feet. "I'll leave you alone now then, Admiral. I'm afraid your strategy will require quite a bit of rewriting with the loss of Auria." He waved, then slowly faded away into the air. Cean sighed and picked up a paper, then jumped as Goda reappeared.

"My lord?"

"Almost forgot something." The Black Warrior actually looked embarrassed. "The Gold Lord will be coming down here personally from Scande soon. He wants to take a look at the conquest of Prima personally." Admiral Cean paled a little.

"Lord Jade... coming here? Very well, we shall prepare for his arrival!" Goda nodded.

"I'd suggest it, Admiral. Well, goodbye again." Once again he disappeared. Admiral Cean waited for a few moments; then, sure that the Black Warrior was really gone, began going over his strategy once more with red ink to make revisions. A lot of revisions, he thought angrily, thanks to Ryu the Light Dragon. Wherever that maniac was, Admiral Cean offered a quick prayer to Ladon for a thousand damnations upon his hide.

Gant was a town that was located in the deep south of the world, high in the mountains. The only convenient access to it was a single beach to its east. Onto that beach, a single, orange-scaled Maniro flopped.

"Whew... well, at least I didn't get knocked out this time." Pulling a Sea Cactus spine out of one arm, Gobi immediately made for Gant. As he entered, there was a commotion going on. Two Dark Dragon soldiers were unceremoniously hauling a Builder Clan man out of his house. Gobi's eyes narrowed at the sight of the soldiers, but he stood aside so they could pass. The two soldiers glanced at him, then looked back at their captive, uninterested. As they took him out of town, Gobi heard them talking.

"That was easier than I thought it would be!" One of them sniggered.

"We've got their families. What are they gonna do?" The other one laughed, then looked at Gobi again. "Who are you, bub?"

"Just a merchant." Gobi flashed his best salesman's smile. "Care to buy some rope?"

"What do you THINK, moron?" The soldier kicked him in the side, and Gobi fell over. "Be more respectful when addressing a soldier in the Dark Dragon Empire next time!" Laughing, the soldiers left with their still-struggling captive. Gobi got back to his feet and muttered a few rancid epithets after the soldiers, then looked around the town. Gant was obviously a town of metalworking. The houses themselves were made of metal, and strange apparatus were connected to each one by pipes. There was something strange about it, however. Walking up to the Elder's house, Gobi realized what it was; nobody was there. The town was empty, save for one or two unfriendly-looking very old men on the porches. Reaching the largest house in town, he knocked on the door. Unsurprisingly, the beard of the Gantman who answered was completely white.

"Yeah, whaddaya want? If you're a door-to-door saleman, I'm gonna take my boot and-"

"No, no, no." Gobi waved his hands frantically. "Not at all. I'm from Prima; we sent a large shipment of artificial Gills here a while back. If you've got them, I need four sets." The old Gantman frowned.

"You're from Prima, eh? I'm Minos, the Elder. Did the High Merchant send you?"

"Yes?" Gobi guessed. "Why, do you want me to deliver something to him?" Minos' eyes narrowed.

"Maybe. What's the High Merchant's name, and what color are his scales?"

"His name is Gartes, and his scales are blue. And I'm Gobi, by the way." The Maniro answered. Minos grunted.

"All right, he did send you. Listen, Gobi, I'm sure you already know the Dark Dragons conquered our territory. What you probably don't know is how. It wasn't in a fair fight, oh no. They captured our wives and children!"  
"What!" Gobi was stunned. Minos nodded grimly.

"Oh, yes. Three of the scum calling themselves the Slime Brothers somehow slipped into town one night and hauled them all off. With them as hostages, all the men under seventy have to work for the Dragons and make their filthy weapons." Minos shook his head sadly. "But enough talk. Here..." He handed Gobi a small crate with "Prima Goods" stamped on it. "Take this to Prima, and DON'T get cut off. It's got a report with all the details inside it. Oh, here..." He took a package off the shelf and slipped it inside the crate. "There's all the artificial Gills we've got left. Now get going, young man!" Gobi nodded without saying anything and left.

Fortunately, Prima wasn't really that far from Gant, and again Gobi made it to his destination in one piece. He entered the Guild Center and wordlessly placed the Goods crate in front of the High Merchant. Gartes smiled.

"Ah, good! You brought these." Opening the crate, he handed over four sets of Gills. "These are yours, Gobi, and since you did me this service, I won't even charge you for them. Take them with my thanks." Gobi grinned.

"Glad to be of service, boss."

"Now, let's see here..." Gartes began reading a letter. As his eyes traveled down its length, he began to swear vociferously.

"What's wrong, boss?" Gobi asked. Gartes pounded his desk.

"The men of the Builder Clan are being forced to build a secret weapon. They're working in a fortress on the western side of the mountains."

"Secret weapon? That doesn't sound good..." Gobi frowned. The High Merchant shook his head, his face dark.

"It's not. At all. They're talking about forbidden technology... a weapon from the War of the Dragons!" Gobi turned white.

"Boss, the weapons they used then... they could wipe out Prima!"

"Exactly! We have to stop this right now!" Gartes started to rise, then stopped himself. "But... how? Prima isn't a millitary city... we don't even have a police force! What can we do?" Gobi was about to respond, but his words were drowned out by a series of explosions from above the city. Both of them stared at the ceiling. "What IS that racket!" They ran for the exit, but another Maniro met them there.

"Boss, it's a small boat! The Dark Dragons attacked and sank it!"

"Any survivors?" Gartes asked quickly. The Maniro nodded.

"One... but he's in bad shape!"

"Bring him in here, quickly! And get a pair of these Gills on him!" The High Merchant commanded. Several more Maniros brought the survivor in, and Gobi stared. It was a Builder Clanner who looked to be in his early thirties. He was unconscious. The Maniros hauled him up to the top floor of the Guild Center and placed him on a bed. "Get a doctor! Immediately!" Gartes yelled. "This man may have vital information on the Dark Dragon army! His survival is essential!"

"Too late, too late for that..." A disembodied voice hissed. All the Maniros in the room stared as, out of thin air, a skeletal figure in a purple cloak materialized, holding a large scythe. The Builder Clanner began moaning, and the ghoul's eye sockets flashed. "This one's soul is mine... I will take him to Hell..."

"C... cancel that doctor." Gartes mumbled. "Nobody... nobody can do anything about THAT..." Gobi's eyes lit up.

"Maybe... but I think I know a guy who would be willing to try!" Gartes whirled around to face him.

"Are you serious? Who? We can't lose this man, Gobi! We can't!"

"His name's Ryu." Gobi explained. "Him and his friends are the ones I'm getting the Gills for. They're..."

"Wait. Ryu! The Light Dragon Ryu?" Gartes demanded. Gobi nodded.

"Yeah... how did you know?"

"That guy's been tearing up the Dark Dragons left and right in the Lands of the East!" Gartes yelled. "If you can get him here..." Gobi saluted.

"Consider it done, boss! Once I tell him this is to screw the Dark Dragons, he'll be here like greased lightning!"

"He'd better..." Gartes muttered as the orange Maniro dashed for the door. "I don't know how long this guy can last..."

"Not long, not long at all..." The spirit crooned.

"This sun is unbearable." Karn groaned. "Look at it. It's trying to set us on fire, I just know it."

"I knew I should have bought some of that lotion they use in Arad..." Nina agreed. Bo just shook his head.

"Complaining won't help, you two. And I'm the one wearing fur. If I can stand it, you can. We just have to wait for Gobi..."

"Look, there he is!" Ryu exclaimed, pointing to the edge of the island where there was a commotion befitting a beached whale. They all ran down to find the orange Maniro beating a huge, ugly green fish with massive jaws off. Once it was gone, he turned to face them, dripping and grinning.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late, but there was trouble... Dark Dragon trouble."

"Dark Dragons?" Ryu's hand went to his sword. "What's going on, Gobi?"

"To be concise, they've conquered the lands of the Builder Clan and are making moves on Prima. A Builder Clanner is back in Prima, probably with vital information on the Dark Dragons, but he's unconscious, beat up really bad, and apparently dying. There's even a spirit who came to take him off, and you guys are the only ones who can get rid of him!"

"Gets right to the point, doesn't he?" Bo chuckled. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we should probably help him out."

"Anything to screw the Dark Dragons!" Karn grinned. Nina and Ryu nodded as well.

"Show us how to use the Gills and let's get going."

"Right, then..." Gobi pulled one of the apparatus out and held it up. "It's simple, really. You put this part..." He indicated one end. "In your mouth. It goes back around your head. These parts..." He indicated the other end. "Filter oxygen out of the water for you to breathe. Your lungs will appreciate it, trust me."

"Whatever works is cool." Nina shrugged, taking it from him and putting it on. The other three did as well. "Can we speak with these things on? Yeah, we can! Cool."

"We're very proud of them." Gobi bowed. "Now come, let's go! That guy could die at any moment!" He dived into the ocean, and the others followed. "Now, breathe out deeply. Completely empty your lungs of air." They did so, and promptly sank to the bottom. "Good. Now just keep breathing evenly and you won't go back up. Prima's this way." They followed him, looking around at the underwater world with awe.

"It's beautiful." Karn whispered. Nina pointed at the large Dogfish headed their way.

"That, however, is not."

"Gonna have to try this sometime..." Shrugging, Bo loosed a couple arrows. To his surprise, they flew perfectly and killed the fish before it got close. "Huh. Must be something in the fletching."

"Look, there's Prima!" Karn pointed. Ryu raised an eyebrow as he saw all the activity.

"It's as hectic as I imagined it. You'll have to clear us a path, Gobi. Hope you brought a machete."

"Very funny." Gobi led them through the crowds to the Guild Center. As they entered the room at the top, High Merchant Gartes turned.

"Gobi! And are you Ryu? There's not a moment to spare! He's almost done for!" He gestured to the Builder Clanner, who indeed had turned an unhealthy greyish color. The specter was hovering over him. Nina chuckled.

"No problem, my lord. I recognize that kind of thing. That thing's no specter of death... my guess is the Dark Dragons sent it to finish the job on that guy."

"You recognize it?" Ryu asked with surprise. Nina nodded.

"Yeah. Manson, the Wizard of Karma, had a couple of these things working for him named Morte and Mortea. I'm guessing Cort, the Blue Alchemist, got a hold of how to make them and created this guy here... possibly with the help of the Red Dreammaster, Mote. Hey, bonebag! What's your name?" The specter turned to stare at them.

"I am Morteo... and you will not stop me from taking this one's soul!" Ryu rolled his eyes.

"Brother. Not very smart guy... every other Dark Dragon flunky in the world probably knows my face by now from the Wanted posters." He smiled at the ghoul. "Okay, Morteo. What would happen if we did, in fact, attempt to stop you?" Silently, Morteo lifted his scythe and brought it down on Ryu's head. The Light Dragon met it with his sword and thrust it away even as his scales began to form. The Maniros watched in awe as he became the Fire Whelp and attacked. Morteo never stood a chance as he bathed its entire body in flames that became boiling water instantly. The skeletal specter collapsed like a burning house, not even a scream issuing forth from its mouth. Ryu turned around to revert.

"Wait, Ryu! Look out!" Gobi yelled. Ryu spun around to see the burning wreck of Morteo swing his scythe at the Light Dragon's unprotected neck. Before it could strike, however, a window exploded as a school of savage litle green fish burst in. They smashed into Morteo at full speed and sent him flying into a wall, losing stray bones from everywhere. Hissing, Ryu charged Morteo again, this time following the blast of boiling water with a brutal rending using claws and teeth. When he reverted and bowed to Gartes, all that was left of Morteo was a small heap of ashes.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced, my Lord. My name is Ryu of the Light Dragons." Gartes stared at him for a moment, and then his eyes tilted back in his head as he fell to the ground. The other Maniros looked almost on the verge of doing the same.

"This might take a while." Karn muttered to Bo. The Forest Clanner could only nod.

"Mmm... where am I?" Ryu, Nina, Bo, Karn and all the Maniros turned and watched breathlessly as the Builder Clanner's eyes slowly opened. "My name is Ox... what happened?"

"Your ship was sunk." Gartes answered him, quickly getting back up. "You're safe in Prima now, Ox... but why were the Dark Dragons after you?"

"The Dark Dragons!" Ox's eyes lit up. "Prima! I'm in Prima! I was coming here to give you a message!"

"Is it about the secret weapon?" Gartes asked. Ox nodded.

"Yeah... yeah it is! The Dark Dragons... they knew how skilled we of the Builder Clan were at making weapons, among other things..." His fist was trembling with rage. "We tried to fight, but three of their men, the Slime Brothers, captured our families... we had no choice!" He looked directly at Gartes. "If that weapon is completed, you'll have no chance... it's a torpedo!" Gartes and Nina went white.

"...That's bad, isn't it?" Ryu asked.

"Worse than bad..." Nina whispered. "A torpedo is an underwater explosive... it could be fired from a ship ten miles away and blow Prima to bits!"

"The Wing Clan girl's right." Ox slowly sat up. "That's why I've got to get back there... stop them!"

"In your condition?" Gartes blinked. "Impossi-" He broke off as Ox stood up and stretched, not faltering in the least. He was at least eight feet tall, and every inch of his body was packed with muscles. From behind, he could be mistaken for a tan, furry boulder... well, a boulder with hooves and horns. The Builder Clanner smiled at Gartes through his heavy brown beard.

"Thanks, friend, but I'm fine. I'm a tough guy... and I've got a job to do."

"Not by yourself, you don't." Ryu decided. "We're coming with you, Ox." Ox shook his head.

"No, no... thanks for the offer, but..." He stopped, and his eyes narrowed. "Wait. Blue hair... are you...?"

"A Light Dragon." Ryu confirmed. "I'm Ryu. This is Nina, princess of Windia. The Forest Clanner is Bo, their greatest archer. And the little guy is Karn, protege of Khel, the Lord of Thieves."

"Ryu's sworn to kill Emperor Zog, and we follow him." Nina continued. "If it involves messing up the Dark Dragons, Ox, you can count on us. The four of us are with you, and that's that."

"Ahem... I believe you forgot somebody." Gobi reminded them.

"Huh?" Ryu was startled. "Gobi, you..."

"Did you actually thing I was just going to stay here while you guys got yourselves killed out there without me?" Gobi grinned. "Come on. I think by now I've earned a spot on your team."

"Maybe if it wasn't for the million-Zenny debt you charged us for..." Karn muttered. Nina kicked his shin as Ryu shook Gobi's hand.

"If you still want to come along, Gobi, we'll be glad to have you. You've proven yourself."

_If I help them, I may be able to get my license back!_ Gobi thought to himself. Aloud, he continued speaking. "Besides... me, let my home town be blown up by a torpedo? Not on my watch! If you're ready to go, Ox, the FIVE of us are with you." Ox grinned.

"How can I turn down an offer like that? All right, you guys. Oh..." He turned back to Gartes, who was watching Gobi suspiciously. "Did you recover my hammer from my boat, my Lord?"

"Ehwhat? Oh, yes. It's right over there." Gartes gestured to where a massive sledge was lying in a corner. Ox walked over and picked it up. The head of the hammer was bigger than his skull, but he hefted it easily.

"All right... I've got what I need. Let's go pound on the Dark Dragons' door!"


	10. Chapter 9: War Of The Water Worlds

**__**

Chapter 9: War Of The (Water) Worlds

"Hey, Gobi, something I've been meaning to ask you." Ryu said to the Maniro that evening. The group was camped on the shore near the Dark Dragon Hidden Fortress, which they would be attacking the next day. As he had on the ship, Gobi was cooking dinner; in this case, some fish Ryu had caught using a new rod he had bought in Prima (Gobi had given back the wallet).

"Shoot." Gobi turned the spit that the fish were roasting on.

"What was that thing you did back when we were fighting Morteo?" The Light Dragon inquired. "You know, with all of those green fish?"

"That, my friend, is Water magic." Gobi winked. "When we Maniros are in the ocean, we can call on it to assist us. It's completely useless on dry land, of course, but under the sea, watch out." He examined the fish. "Just a couple minutes more on these, I think."

"Water magic, huh..." Ox chuckled. "Sounds cool, at least. I'm not much for magic, myself... I know a little bit of White magic, but not much. Mostly, I just use this." He indicated his hammer. "Any other White magic users here?"

"I've studied it a lot." Nina nodded. "Between us, we should be able to keep these idiots in one piece."

"I was never much for magic myself..." Bo admitted. "I know SOME Black magic, but only some... never was able to get the hang of the more complicated stuff." He smirked. "And, of course, there's Ryu's Dragon magic."

"Dragon magic?" Ox raised an eyebrow. Gobi shuddered.

"Yeah. They don't call him a Light Dragon for nothing, bud; he'll turn into a flying lizard the instant you take your eyes off him. First time I saw it my scales stood on end, and that's a neat trick."

"I'm just a beginner at that, actually." Ryu shrugged. "It's a cultural thing... if I want to get the real transformations going, I have to find the next Dragon Shrine... and that's at some place called the Builder's Horn, which I have no idea about." Ox blinked.

"The Builder's Horn? That's right around the south side of these mountains!"

"You're serious!" Ryu sprang up, a huge grin on his face. "Can you take us there after the Dark Dragons are vamoosed?"

"Sure, it's no big deal." Ox shrugged. "We can just go there easily once we've got this whole mess cleared up. We'll start from north of this Fortress and go along the west coast to get there."

"Great." Ryu sat back down. "That'll be awesome. Thanks, Ox."

"Do you really have any idea what they're talking about?" Gobi asked Ox.

"Not really." Ox admitted. "Do you?" The Maniro shook his head.

"Nope, but I know these fish are ready. Chow time." Everybody dug in. "What about you, Karn?" The Maniro inquired as he doled out fish. "You know any magic?"

"No, never could..." Karn shook his head. "Tried in my youth, but I could never do it. The old man wasn't surprised, come to think of it... wonder if it has anything to do with me being a Fusion Clanner..."

"Fusion Clan?" Ox raised both eyebrows as he took a big bite. "Those were all but wiped out... you're one of them?"

"Yeah..." Karn sighed. "Wish I could find somebody else, though... maybe then I'd know."

"Heck, there's another Fusion Clanner back in Gant!" Ox chuckled. "He's an old friend of Elder Minos, so when he came here asking for sanctuary, Minos was happy to help. I'm sure he'll be glad to meet you when we go back there." The young thief sprouted a smile that threatened to expand wider than his face.

"All RIGHT! So, we attack the Hidden Fortress at dawn tomorrow?" Karn asked through a mouthful of fish. Ox nodded.

"Yeah... there's a secret way in. It's how I escaped, and when I did I fixed it so that only a Builder Clanner could get back in there again." He clenched his fist. "I hope the Slime Brothers are still hanging around there... I'd LOVE to run into them." There was a clanking noise from nearby. Ryu looked around.

"What was that?"

"Metal Scorpio." Ox shrugged. "Nasty kind of monster that lives in this area. Somebody should probably go kill it before it tries to sneak up on us."

"I'll get it." Bo sighed and walked off.

"Watch out for Blood Slimes." Ox yelled after him. "They like to jump you when you're trying to track down something else."

"The wildlife around your place is charming, Ox." Nina commented. The big Builder Clanner smirked.

"Hey, it could be worse. Up in the northwest they've got screaming disembodied skulls." He shook his head. "Anyways, the Hidden Fortress is really just an outpost. The main Dark Dragon HQ is further north of here... huge castle called Nabal. There won't be any sneaking into THAT place, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we just gotta get everybody out of this one."

"Any idea who's in charge here?" Ryu asked. Ox thought for a moment.

"Might be the Slime Brothers if they're still around. Admiral Cean comes down for visits occasionally, but he never stays long..." He snapped his fingers. "Now I remember. Some new General was coming up... just got promoted from Knight recently. He'll be the one in charge."

"A General, huh." Ryu snorted. "Those are no problem by now."

"You've killed some before?" Ox inquired. He nodded.

"Yup. Two... Folage and Graham. Two Captains as well, and two Knights."

"No, Sir Rabite escaped, remember?" Nina reminded him. "The only Knight was Terrack."

"Right, forgot that Rabite got away." Ryu admitted. "Ah well, some superior of his has probably killed him by now." Bo walked back to the campfire, looking disgusted. His left shoulder was coated in red goo.

"Blood Slime?" Gobi asked. Bo just grunted irritably and kept walking towards the water.

"All right, let's hit the hay if everybody's done eating." Ryu decided. "I'll take first watch, unless Bo wants to when he's done washing that gunk off."

"And in the morning, the Hidden Fortress." Ox grinned without any trace of humor. "Sleep well, friends. We're going to need to be in good shape tomorrow."

"So this is the Hidden Fortress." Ryu frowned. "Bit of a misnomer there. It's hardly hidden." The huge, square building in front of them was completely devoid of any grace or beauty. It was obviously meant for one, grim purpose, sitting right in the middle of the passage between the mountains and blocking the way through. Ox led them over to the mountainside, where a huge boulder rested.

"All right, stand back." Moving to the boulder, he grabbed it and began pushing, grunting with exertion. Huge muscles stood out all over his body as he slowly moved the monolithic rock away, revealing a tunnel. Following it led them into the basement of the Hidden Fortress, and they climbed a set of stairs to get inside the building proper. "Now, we're not in the actual work area yet." Ox told the group. "Before we get there, they've got some defensive corridors we have to find out way through."

"Lovely." Nina rolled her eyes. "Dark Dragon architects are deranged." Ox winked at her.

"Don't worry, I know a shortcut. This wall looks like it's in bad condition." He gestured at the northern wall of the room they were in, which was as crumbly as a moldy cake. "So... I just do THIS!" With lightning speed, he smashed his fist into the wall, and it exploded into rubble. "Noisy, but it works, and since we're attacking..."

"Job well done." Ryu grinned, and they walked on through. Turning a corner, they suddenly found themselves facing a Lancer wearing blue.

"The escaped prisoner! And he's brought hel..." His yell died into a gurgling sigh as Ryu's, Nina's and Karn's blades all went into his chest.

"Nice work." Ox admitted as they shoved the body into a dark dead-end. Ryu shrugged.

"Fairly routine. Shall we go on?" The next Lancer they found, though, was Ox's turn. Before he could even start to yell, the giant sledge fell upon his head and splattered it like an overripe fruit. Nina gagged a little, but Ox just kept walking. Before long, they found a staircase leading down into another basement.

"Right, the working area's down here." Ox hefted his hammer. "So will be the boss of this place. Come on." Below was a long hallway with barred cells lining both walls. Inside each cell were two or three Builder Clan men toiling over forges and workbenches. A single Dark Dragon General was pacing down the hall, his back to the group.

"Come on, cattle! Let's pick the pace up a bit! After all, if we don't fill our quota, who knows what Admiral Cean will do to your families!" He turned around and saw them, and his eyes widened with surprise. So did the group's.

"No way! Rabite!" Ryu croaked. The General quickly recovered.

"That's General Rabite to you now, Ryu." He sneered. "Oh yes, I got a promotion since we last met. And I think I'll be getting yet another now that you're in my clutches." He glanced at Ox. "Hm... and you would be the escaped prisoner. I must admit, you've got guts to come back here. But I'm afraid guts aren't enough."

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Karn laughed. "We kicked your ASS last time, so what makes you think it's not going to happen again?" Rabite grinned viciously as he began to glow.

"Because, little thief, I've learned a few tricks since then along with my promotion!" Ryu saw what he was turning into and groaned.

"Aw, no... not this again!" He readied his sword as the General grew into a heavily muscled, armor-plated purple toad with spiked shoulders and a tuft of blue hair, at least eight feet tall. "An actual one of these things was bad enough!"

"Oh, I'm much, much worse than a real frog demon!" The Toad croaked, tongue-whipping Ryu and sending him flying into a wall. Bellowing, Ox charged, hammer raised and smashed the Toad between the eyes. He looked cross-eyed for a moment, then laughed. "Is that it? Come on! You can do better than that!" He bashed the Builder Clanner away just in time to recieve a faceful of arrows and knives. Growling, he attacked Bo and Karn, and Gobi jabbed at his side. Without even turning, it kicked him away.

"This thing's tough..." Ryu growled as he transformed into the Ice Whelp. "Any ideas?" He ducked as a ball of acidic sludge went flying past his head.

"Ideas are severely frowned upon in this facility, young man!" The Toad laughed, spitting another one. Ryu dodged this one as well.

"Yech! What is WITH you Dark Dragons and doing that?" While his attention was distracted, Nina was powering up Ox's sledge.

"There... he won't be shrugging that off twice!" The princess promised. Ox grinned.

"Thanks. Now, I just have to wait for an opening..." One came a moment later as Bo sent a wave of icy wind slicing at the Toad like a huge sickle. It stepped back, and Ox rushed forward, swinging his hammer sideways. The blow caught the Toad on the side of the head and caved it in as the beast toppled on its side. "Now, guys!" Ryu shrieked and flew up, then swooped down like some fell frigid hawk, delivering a blast of ice that would put out a burning house. The Toad froze, mouth gaping open like a trapdoor, and Gobi moved, ramming his pike through the roof of the Toad's mouth and into its brain. The great beast shuddered convulsively and went limp. Ox took a moment to catch his breath, then began opening the cells.

"Ox! You're alive!" One of the Builder Clansmen yelled with glee. "The Dragons said they'd sunk you!" Ox grinned as they rushed out.

"You know me. It'll take more than a trip to the bottom of the ocean to do me in!" He gestured towards his new friends. "These guys, though... I couldn't have done it without them." Another Builder Clansmen shook his head sadly.

"If you'd only come a day earlier..." Ox froze.

"What... what do you..." He looked around. There were no women or children in the cells, only the men, who nodded.

"Yeah, Ox... they took our familes and the torpedo to Nabal up north..."

"That's their main HQ, right?" Ryu asked. Ox nodded.

"Yeah... and it's guarded incredibly heavily. It'll be almost impossible to get in..."

"Hell, we'll find a way." Ryu smiled. "Come on, we've overcome impossible odds before. I'll tell you what. Tonight at the campfire, I'll tell you about the time I blew up the entire castle of Nanai single-handedly, and then tomorrow we'll hike up and take a look at Nabal. Awright?"

"Yeah... okay..." Ox mumbled dejectedly, walking off. The others all watched him silently. Once he was gone, one of the prisoners spoke up.

"Don't blame Ox for being depressed, guys. His wife's among those still at Nabal." The five heroes did double-takes.

"His... yeah, that would do it." Ryu realized. "All right, we won't bother him."  
"Once you're done looking at Nabal, there's something you might want to check out." Another prisoner suggested. "Near Gant... there's an old hermit. Rumor has it he was part of the Dark Dragon army a couple years ago. He might know something." Ryu's eyes went cold, but Nina spoke up first.

"That's a good idea. Thanks." She gave the Light Dragon a look, and he didn't say a thing, but the look in his eyes at hearing "Dark Dragon" spoke louder than words.

A single Dark Dragon ship pulled up to the dock at Nabal. It was a simple, unmarked ship, nothing special, with the _Quincunx_ written on its side. However, it had been built to carry only five people, the crew aside. One of these five people was on board at the moment. He looked out a porthole, amused, as nearly the entire garrison at Nanai turned out to greet him. Smiling, he turned away from the porthole and walked abovedeck. As he jumped over the side, each and every one of the soldiers saluted.

"Lord Jade!"  
"Lord Jade!"  
"Lord Jade!"  
"Lord Jade!" Still smiling, Jade, the Gold Lord, stretched out his arms to the soldiers as if to embrace them.

"Ah, my men... such respect is undeserved by me."

"Nonsense, your highness." Admiral Cean walked out towards the center of the crowd. "You and the rest of the Tiamat Unit are heroes to these men."

"Heroes, yes..." Jade murmured. "I suppose so. However, being adored pales rather quickly. Shall we adjourn to the interior?" Admiral Cean nodded.

"This way, your highness." The soldiers remained in their positions long after their two commanders had left. Once they reached the throne room of Nabal, Jade sat down in the throne without even being invited. Cean took a seat nearby.

"So, how are things, Admiral?" Jade asked as a glass of wine was served to him. Cean coughed.

"Ahem... well, I'm pleased to announce that construction of the torpedo is proceeding right on schedule, your highness. We expect to have it finished in only a week or two more."

"Eh? Oh, yes, the torpedo. Right, very good, Admiral." Jade waved a hand carelessly. "Bomb Prima and all that. Has there been anything else going on recently?"

"Well... rumor has it that Ryu, the Light Dragon terrorist, has been sighted around here..." Jade suddenly sat bolt upright, a blazing smile on his face.

"You don't say. Tell me more, Admiral."

"Well..." Cean thought for a moment. "I assume you already know about the disappearance of the _Scylla_ and the _Charybdis_. For several days, there was nothing heard from Ryu after that... but only a couple days ago, he and all his companions were reported in Prima."

"I see..." Jade's smile widened. "All his friends? Nina, Princess of Windia? Bo, the Forest Archer? Karn, Prince of Thieves?"

"All accounted for." Cean nodded. "Also, they appear to have been joined by an orange Maniro named Gobi who was actually exiled from Prima because of excessive greed and cheating... by THEIR standards."

"Now that must be something to see." Jade chuckled, shaking his head. "Ryu does gather the strangest fellows into his group, doesn't he?"

"Yes... and this Gobi may also have been seen in Gant, just south of here, recently. That's where our prisoners here usually live." Cean snapped his fingers. "Oh, there's also the matter of the escaped prisoner..."

"A Builder Clanner?" Jade guessed. The Admiral nodded.

"Yes, indeed. The boat he was in sunk near Prima... and when Lord Goda's pet spirit went to try and finish the job, it didn't return. It is possible that the prisoner, Ox, may also have joined Ryu's group, if he still lives."

"Well, aren't we multicultural, Ryu." Jade laughed. "Who's next, the legendry sorceress? I wouldn't be surprised at all."

"Legendary sorceress?" Cean inquired.

"Oh, nothing." Jade shrugged. "Just a bit of ancient history. It doesn't matter." Admiral Cean shrugged.

"As you wish, your highness. That's really all we have going on around here."

"Hm..." Jade stood up and walked over to look at a map of the world that was hanging on the wall. "At the moment, Ryu has four Goddess Keys, correct, Admiral?"

"As far as we know, yes." Admiral Cean confirmed. "We've been unable to get total confirmation on the Light Key and Dark Key, but it certainly looks that way."

"Well, we're zeroing in on the two remaining ones that are up for grabs... and Ryu's nowhere near those, so very shortly we'll almost have him matched." Jade shook his head. "Pity they made an odd number of those and not an even one. Ah well, that's the way it goes."

"Speaking of the Goddess Keys, has Emperor Zog found the seventh person for the ceremony yet?" Admiral Cean asked. He immediately regretted it, but it was too late. The Gold Lord turned around. He was smiling. Admiral Cean begged Ladon to let him survive the next five minutes.

"Why, Cean, are you getting ambitious?"

"No, sir! Not at all!" Cean quickly defended himself. "I'm not like those arrogant underofficers! I know my place, your highness!"

"Excellent, Admiral." Jade turned back to the map. "Just curious, eh? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, we have found a seventh person. It was up in the air until recently, you know. One candidate for it was Manson, the Wizard of Karma, and I think that idiot Knight, Terrack, had some delusional designs on the position as well. But they're both dead now-Manson for the second time-and we've got somebody else. The quota is filled; now all we need is those Goddess Keys."

"If that terrorist dares to come up here, I'll make sure to get them for you, your highness." Admiral Cean promised. Jade turned his head around to stare at him incredulously, then chuckled.

"Ah... yes, you do that, Admiral. You make sure you do that... if you can kill Ryu and his friends and give Emperor Zog those Keys, he'll be very happy. And so will I, my friend. In the meantime, though, I have to plan for the future, whether Prima falls or not." Admiral Cean blinked.

"Whether... your highness, I assure you beyond any doubt that Prima WILL-"

"Yes, yes, Admiral." Jade waved a hand dismissively. "Now, would you mind leaving me alone for a moment? I need to do some thinking... some QUIET thinking." Cean slowly nodded. He saluted, then left the room. The Gold Lord didn't even notice; he just continued looking at the map.

"Ryu... Light Dragon Ryu, where are you now..."

"So that's Nabal Castle." Nina muttered. "I'll say this for those Dark Dragon slime. Their exterior decorator has talent." Nabal, in contrast to the Hidden Fortress, was a marvelous edifice of marble, much like Nanai in the northeast had been. Solid gold flagpoles flew the Dark Dragon symbol from every corner, and each tier had a balcony atop it. The entire structure was surrounded by a wide moat that connected to the ocean behind the castle, where numerous piers waited for arriving ships. A thirty-foot-tall wall surrounded everything. The Castle seemed to have been built for the purpose of declaring the power and glory of the Dark Dragon Empire to the earth itself. It was only marred by the hundreds of guards walking along every balcony, patrolling the rooftops, hiding behind trees and crowding like a mob on the single drawbridge that allowed entry.

"As far as we know, that's Admiral Cean's heaquarters for the entire eastern invasion." Ox informed the others. The group were viewing the Castle from a distance; the GrimFowl Woods, a mile to the south of Nabal, were the closest cover. From there, it was flat grassland with no hope of approaching unobserved. "The torpedoing of Prima... the conquest of my people... the naval strike on Auria... the invasions of the Forest and Wing Clan territories... all of them were planned by Admiral Cean here, based on orders delivered from Emperor Zog in Scande. Over a thousand soldiers are garrisoned in the building alone at all times."

"Well, I'm optimistic about our chances." Ryu muttered, turning away. The others followed him back into the trees. "Damn... no way in hell we can get in there..."

"It's late, let's start a campfire." Nina suggested. "We'll think of something." Bo stared at her as if she was deranged.

"A campfire? HERE? What if it gets to the trees?"

"We'll be careful, Bo." She assured him. "Come on, help me gather loose wood." Grumbling, Bo started picking up sticks while the others got food out of their packs. Soon, there was a small but cheery blaze going.

"I think our only option is to ask that old guy you told us about, Ox." Gobi remarked pensively as he chewed on some nuts. "If he really is a Dark Dragon soldier, he could know a secret way in."

"No." Ryu said firmly. "Not an option. We don't ask Dark Dragons for help. Ever."

"He's probably not an actual Dragon Clanner... just a human who was in the army." Karn argued. "I don't like it either, but if it'll get the job done..."

"No Dark Dragons. No Dark Dragon soldiers." Ryu was adamant.

"Now, that is unkind, young man. Dark Dragons are people too, you know." A friendly voice reprimended him from the trees. All six whirled around. At first, they saw nothing, but then Karn's quick eyes found the source.

"There! On the branch!"

"Well spotted, young Fusion Clanner." The man on the branch leaped down and took a seat next to the campfire without even being asked, to the surprise of the group. He was a tall man, covered head to toe in a long, rich cloak of forest green. It was trimmed with white fur, caught at the throat by a clasp of green stone, and had a hood to obscure his face.

"Who are you?" Ryu managed to finally ask. "And what are you doing here? Are YOU a Dark Dragon?"

"Perhaps... perhaps not." The man lifted his hands to show that he held no weapons. "Does it matter? I am a friend... both to you, and to the other denizens of these Woods, whom I am visiting."

"The other denizens?" Ox blinked. "You mean..."

"Yes, the birds for which these Woods were named. The GrimFowl." The cloaked man held a finger up to his face. "Shh! Here comes one now." From the brush, a humongous bird slowly walked out. The six travelers could only stare. The GrimFowl was taller than Ox, a massive bird with purple feathers on its main body. Its wings and tail boasted much longer pink feathers, as did twin crests on the sides of its head, and a blue horn sprouted from its forehead. However, the evil green eyes, deadly curved beak and thick talons spoke of enormous potential for violence. It was not a pretty bird.

"Always thought they were just a myth..." Ox whispered.

"Oh, no. Not at all." The cloaked man assured him as the GrimFowl hesitantly approached. It lowered its head, which was on a long, ostrichlike neck, and the man began stroking it gently. "Marvelous birds. Incredible fighters, but equally incredibly peaceful. Very friendly and intelligent, and almost fearless. Almost nothing will drive a GrimFowl to violence... except going after their eggs. THAT is an invitation of horrible death."

"I'll bet." Nina shuddered.

"Almost as horrible as attacking yonder castle." The man gave Ryu a direct look. "The Dark Dragons in there are indeed enemies of yours, and would dispatch you without fail. What is it you have against anybody who bears even the slightest trace of the Dark Dragon affiliation?"

"..." Ryu was silent for a moment. "They... burned my home. Took away my sister. For that... I'll kill them all. Every one..."

"Your sister, ah..." The cloaked man seemed surprised for a moment. Both Gobi and Ox grunted, startled as well. "When was this?"

"A few months ago..." Ryu answered through gritted teeth. "Why?"

"Ah, then the old man near Gant should bear none of your malice." The cloaked man explained. "You see, he is an... old friend of mine. He never served under Zog, but rather his father, the previous Emperor... it was Zog's ascencion to the throne that caused the old man to leave the army." He got to his feet. "It is up to you, my friends... but I strongly suggest you be openminded in this case. It is your only hope of toppling that castle." Waving, he leaped back into the trees and was gone. The GrimFowl watched him go sadly, then departed as well. Without a sound, Ryu stood up and walked a distance away, face like stone. Nina rose as well and followed him. Karn started to go, but Bo stopped him.

"Don't, Karn. Leave them alone. Nina's the only one who has a chance of getting through to him... if any of us tried to help we'd just ruin it."

"Did the Dark Dragons really do that?" Gobi demanded. "To his home and his sister, I mean?"

"As far as I know, yeah." Bo nodded. "From what I know, it's a small village out in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, that's where the Light Dragons all went after the Dragon War... but the Dark Dragons found them. That's Ryu's one weakness. Normally, he's a very reasonable guy, but when it comes to Dark Dragons and their minions, he reacts completely with his sword. Nothing else even enters the equation. It's not an attractive thing to see."

"And here I thought I hated Dark Dragons..." Ox muttered, looking away from the campfire. Ryu and Nina were sitting together, backs to the group, talking quietly. Neither of them could be heard. "I suppose it's because I still know where my wife is, and I won't stop until I get her back... but Ryu has no clue to his sister's wherabouts, does he?"

"None whatsoever." Bo shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not sure if she's really alive at all, but I can't tell that to him."

"Who could?" Karn shook his head. Even the energetic thief was sober at the moment. "And who can really blame him? If I had been old enough to really know my parents, and my Clan... I'd probably hate the Dark Dragons just as much as Ryu does."

"Yeah..." Gobi agreed, realizing with some surprise that he was thinking of Prima and the threat of the torpedo.

"Pssst! They're coming back!" Karn warned. Ryu and Nina had stood up, and were approaching the campfire again. Ryu's face was resigned.

"All right, let's hit the hay, everybody. Get a good night's sleep; we've got to get back to Gant as soon as possible so we... so we can talk to that old guy." He looked like he had just eaten a raw lemon. "I'll take first watch." Nobody argued; they all bunked up without a word. Nina was last.

"Ryu..." She said as she was about to drop off. "I'm sorry... I know you never wanted to..."

"It's okay." Ryu forced a smile. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't like, remember? We did them all our lives before we met... we're used to it. Go on, get some sleep, princess. I'm fine." Nina smiled and closed her eyes. Ryu waited until he was certain she was out, then let the smile drop. Turning away from the fire, he fixed his eyes on the night sky through the branches. He knew it would be a long time before he could get to sleep.

"Hello, Ryu." Ladon greeted the young Light Dragon. "It's been a while."

"Yeah... guess it has." Ryu admitted. "I have four Goddess Keys now... only three left."

"Indeed, you do. Very good, Ryu." Ladon congratulated him. "However, the remaining three will be much more difficult to obtain, and it shall be some time before you even approach them. Right now, you have more pressing problems, do you not?"

"The torpedo..." Ryu nodded. "Yeah..."

"Your enemies must be stopped from using that, Ryu." Ladon ordered him. "Technology with that much destructive power must never be allowed to return to this world."

"Dragon War was that bad, eh?" Ryu joked halfheartedly. The Dragon God shook his head.

"Worse. The horrors of the Dragon War shall pale in comparison to the atrocities that will be committed if you fail, Ryu. If Prima falls, the Lands of the East are lost, and you with them. Put aside your search for the Goddess Keys for now and stop the Dark Dragon advance."

"I'll do everything I can." Ryu promised. Ladon clapped his shoulder.

"I know you will, Ryu, though you may dislike those whose aid you must ask. If all else fails, seek out the legendary sorceress, Ryu. Now, go, back to your duty. Your friends are already awake." As usual, the Dragon God faded into bright light that became the morning. Ryu sat up and rubbed his eyes as Karn banged on the door.

"Time to wake up, dozychops! Better get downstairs before I eat your breakfast too!"

"I'll throw you off the closest mountain if you TOUCH my share, Karn!" Ryu yelled back good-humoredly. Dressing quickly, he headed down to the ground floor of the Inn back in Gant. The others were already chowing down.

"Have a seat, Ryu." Nina waved him over. "Karn didn't come near your plate."

"Only because Nina said she'd stick her sword up my nose if I tried." Karn grumbled. Ryu grinned at the Princess.

"THIS is what friends are for."

"That's right, ramming swords up each others' noses." Gobi agreed sarcastically as the Light Dragon dug in. "I'm glad I don't have one. Now then, first we're going to see Karn's Clansman, and then we're going to ask that former Dark Dragon soldier for help."

"That's the gist of it." Ox grunted in agreement. "I'll take you to see the guy as soon as we're done here." He blinked; everybody's plate was clean, even Ryu's. "Huh. That was fast. Well, let's go then."

Minos, the Elder, was reluctant at first, but when he saw that Karn was one of the Fusion Clan as well, he agreed to ask his friend. Effortlessly pushing a huge dresser in the back of the house out of the way revealed a hidden room.

"Minos? What's wrong?" A voice called from the room. Minos sighed heavily.

"You have a visitor, Pardus... one of your clansmen."

"What? One of the others? Why would they come here?" The man who walked out was dark-skinned and somewhat short. His hair and beard were bright orange. He glanced around quickly, with he furtiveness of one who had spent a great deal of his life hiding, but when he saw Karn, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Who... who are you?"

"My name is Karn." The thief stepped forward, unusually serious. "You're one of the Fusion Clan... like me... aren't you?"

"Indeed I am, lad..." Pardus let out a huge breath. "You... surprised me. I thought there were only four survivors of our clan's destruction..."

"There are more?" Karn asked excitedly. "Where are they?"

"Patience, young one." Pardus chuckled. "If you have a map with you, I will mark the locations of another on it; I'm sure he'll be happy to know we have another survivor as well. But first... there is something I must ask. Do you know the Fusion Magic of our Clan?" Karn shook his head.

"Fusion... Magic? No, no I don't..."

"Then you must learn, immediately." Pardus insisted firmly. "Alas, I know only one type of spell, but it will have to do. Come on, back here... you seem bright, so it shouldn't take too long to teach you." Karn hesitated and looked at the others.

"Guys... do you mind going to see that old soldier without me? I think this is really important."

"No problem, Karn." Ryu clapped him on the shoulder. "We understand. We'll come back to pick you up at sunset, so try to be done by then, okay?" Karn nodded and followed Pardus into the hidden room.

"Think he'll be okay?" Bo worried. Ox laughed.

"Aah, the little guy'll be fine. He's a tough one. Come on, let's go." The Builder Clanner led them out of Gant and out of the mountains, past the beach where they usually went to access the Ocean. East of there was a small, tropical area where palm trees grew and the sun was pleasant, but not burning.

"Got to admit, if I was going to retire, this would be a great place to do it." Gobi commented. Ryu grunted noncommitally as they approached the center of the largest palm tree cluster, where a simple white tent was pitched. A tough-looking old human was sitting outside of it, accompanied only by a goat on a leash. He was sharpening a deadly-looking scimitar.

"You'd be the folks that want to get into Nabal, I reckon." He said without looking up. Ryu's face hardened.

"How did you know that?"

"Guy who looked about twice as old as me came by a few days ago." The former soldier explained. "Said his name was Sparks or somethin', and told me you'd be coming. Thought he was a nutjob at first. Do you know 'im?" Bo, Karn and Nina groaned, recognizing the description.

"Yeah... we've met." Ryu admitted. "What else did he tell you?"

"Told me that you folks had seen a Boomerang." The old man grunted, starting to polish the blade. "Kinda V-shaped thingy, flat, made outta wood?"

"Oh yeah, THAT thing!" Bo snapped his fingers. "We saw one of those in Krypt! It was embedded in that boulder, and we couldn't get it out..."

"Well, son, that there's a rare weapon." The old man stood up. "Now, I happen to be a collector of rare weapons. But in my entire life, I've never actually seen a boomerang."

"Let me guess." Ryu snorted. "You want us to get it for you."

"Catch on quick, ya do, Light Dragon." The former soldier agreed. "Not to keep, mind... no, you can do that. I just want to look at it for a bit. Get me a boomerang to see, and I'll tell you a surefire way to topple Nabal. Ol' General Hassan, who I worked under, was always worried that it would happen."

"Krypt is all the way over in Arad!" Ryu exploded. "Do you have any idea how long it will take us to get there? Especially since we don't have a ship now?"  
"Actually, Ryu, High Merchant Gartes can probably arrange some fast transportation for us." Gobi interrupted. "If he does, we can get to Arad in less than a day." Ryu sputtered for a bit, then threw his hands up.

"Fine! Don't keel over while we're gone, old man. We'll be back with your junk."

"If I have to live another hundred years, I'll do it to see you come back hauling my 'junk' for me, Light Dragon." The ex-soldier retorted as he began working on an ancient bronze spear. Growling, Ryu led the group back to Gant. Karn was waiting, looking exhausted but jubilant.

"I did it, guys!"

"He's a natural." Pardus beamed. "Mastered it faster than any I've ever seen. Let's try it out, shall we?"

"Ooh, let's." Karn grinned evilly at his friends, who all took a step back. "Come on, it won't hurt... much."

"That's reassuring." Nina rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to worry, miss." Pardus shook his head. "Has to be the same gender... and it doesn't work with Dragon Clanners either, so you're safe too, fella. Now, Karn, remember, for the Shin spell, you want to select for speed and smarts."

"Right." Karn nodded, grabbing Bo and Gobi's arms. "Come over here, guys."

"I think I'm allergic to wierd magic." Bo complained.

"You wouldn't look good in scales, buddy!" Gobi attempted. Karn ignored them both.

"Okay, just stand still. Everybody else, get clear." The others were only too glad to. "Fusios Karn Canus Bo Pisces Gobi! Fusios Shin! Shin!" All three suddenly exploded in blinding light. When the others could see again, only one... creature... was standing there. It was built like Bo and had the Forest Clanner's fur and canine features, but the were also orange scales here and there, and fins protruded from head and arms. Its face was particularly savage.

"Karn? Bo? Gobi?" You guys okay?" Nina asked hesitantly. The... thing's head swiveled to look at her.

"This... is different." He admitted. "By the way, my name's Shin right now, like the spell. Wow. Bizarre." He blinked. "Wow, High Merchant Gartes was right. I AM a greedy slimeball... wait, what?" Now he looked confused.

"It takes a while to get used to it." Pardus admitted. "You'll grow accustomed to it in time."

"Yeah, I guess." Shin lifted a huge longbow that had somehow been formed out of their weapons combined; Ryu saw Gobi's pike as part of the shaft and Karn's daggers on the ends. "I could probably snipe Nabal from a mile off using this thing, you know."

"Nice thought, but the guards might notice when their buddies started falling over with arrows in their heads." Ox chuckled. Shin shrugged.

"It was worth a shot. I should probably turn back now... not really much point to this at the moment. Revertus!" There was another flash, and the three were seperate again, clutching their heads.

"You forgot to mention the hangover, chief." Karn groaned. Bo was muttering something about never laughing at salesmen again, and Gobi kept glancing at trees.

"This could take some getting used to." Nina commented to Ryu, who could only nod. Pardus smiled at Karn.

"Good luck, Karn... and come back sometime after this business of yours is settled, hm?"

"I will." Karn promised sincerely. "I'll come back once you don't have to hide any more... when Emperor Zog's dead. I'll take you back to Bleak... you'll like it there. It's great. Like a twenty-four seven party."

"I can hardly wait." Pardus chuckled and went back inside Minos' house. Karn turned to the rest.

"So, how was your day?"

"We'll tell you about it back at then inn." Ryu answered. "Then you'll have to rest up... we've got a long trip tomorrow."

"So that's the way it is." Gobi finished explaining to High Merchant Gartes. "We need to get to Krypt in the Arad Desert and back fast so that old guy will tell us how to bring down Nabal." Gartes slowly nodded.

"All right... yes, that's a worthy reason. And I am stacking my hopes on you people, so... right, right. You've got your transportation."

"How's it going to be?" Ryu asked. "Boat?" Gartes grinned evilly and shook his head.

"Afraid not, my friend... have you ever traveled by Great Fish before?"

"Is that like the Great Bird of my people?" Nina guesed. Both Maniros nodded. "So, why do we need somebody else's help instead of you doing it, Gobi?"

"Well, ah..." Gobi looked uncomfortable. "You see, it's not that... well, easy. We can't do it by ourselves... we need these special Spheres, that we have blessed by the Dragon God. And mine, well... that is to say..."

"I revoked it along with his Merchant's License." Gartes cut to the chase. "So he can't turn into a Great Fish anymore. I'll ask Trout to take you to Arad; he's your friend, right?" Gobi nodded.

"Yeah, Trout'll be fine. Will he be ready to leave tomorrow?" Gartes nodded in agrement. "All right. We'll be ready too, then."

The next day, they met the Maniro named Trout in the northwest area of Prima, where loading and unloading of goods normally took place. Gobi's friend was a stout, purple-scaled Maniro with a cheery smile.

"Is everybody here? All right, then! Let's get going!" There was a shimmering in the air, and where he had been, there was a gigantic purple fish. Strangely, it still had Trout's friendly face. "Grab the dorsal fin, and let's go!"

"Oh, this isn't too wierd..." Bo muttered as they all took hold. Once they were secure, Trout shot off, blasting through the water like a scaled missile. It was all the group could do to hold on.

_Well, we did say we needed to get to Arad fast!_ Ryu thought ruefully, then winced as they nearly missed hitting the side of the island they had been shipwrecked on. This mode of travel was unconventional, but definately effective; they reached a beach that was right outside a break in the mountains that surrounded the Arad Desert just as night fell, and began their trek the next day. Unfortunately, the journey through the sand land was more arduous the second time around, mostly due to the two Maniros. Gobi and Trout were absolutely miserable in the baking heat and lack of water. The only saving grace was that the actual town of Arad was only three days away from the beach. When it came into view, the two Maniros didn't walk, they ran towards the town promising riches to anybody who gave them shade and a barrel of liquid.

"We probably shouldn't make them come with us to Krypt, you know." Ox advised, wiping some sweat off his face. "We can do this without them, and they'd be much happier just staying here."

"You're probably right." Ryu agreed, watching the Maniros bolt into the inn tent like their rears had been set ablaze by the sun. "Let's rest here for the night, then set off."

"Oh, please do." Was Gobi's reaction when broached with the suggestion of staying in Arad. The Maniro grinned, fanning himself. "As a matter of fact, if you try to make us come out unless it's to return to the ocean, you may get a mutiny."

"We figured as much." Ryu nodded. The other five found Krypt again without much trouble. Ox and Karn were duly impressed by the using of the Fife.

"Man, I wish I knew you could get across that easily with that thing." Karn shook his head. The young thief remembered the layout of Krypt perfectly, and had them in front of the desired Boomerang in less than an hour. "I remember seeing this too and thinking it was neat, but I couldn't get it out either, thanks to this stupid boulder. Wonder who the heck did this."

"Does it matter?" Ox grunted. "It's coming out now!" Winding up, he delivered a massive punch that made the entire room shake. The boulder didn't break so much as it exploded into gravel. The Builder Clanner frowned. "Tougher than I thought... I was going for sand. Oh well, nobody's perfect."

"Remind me to never piss you off, Ox." Ryu said weakly. Picking up the Boomerang from the gravel, he hefted it experimentally. "Hmm... interesting feel on this thing... I kinda like it."

"Maybe that old soldier will show you how to use it?" Nina suggested hesitantly. Ryu frowned, then shrugged.

"Maybe. Come on, let's get going." Persuading Gobi and Trout to leave the tent even to return to Prima took a lot of doing, and the two Maniros complained the entire way back to the beach. Thankfully, once they were back in the water, they were too busy glorying in it to talk any more while they blasted back to Prima on Trout.

"Well, guys, it's been real." Trout smiled as they got off, back at the Maniros' city. "But next time you need a ride... PLEASE, need it for someplace else!" The look on his face was so plaintive, everybody had to laugh.

A day later, the group returned to the ex-soldier's tent. The old man didn't look up from the broadsword he was whetting as they approached.

"Hey, Light Dragon. Tell me you have the boomerang in one piece."

"No, we broke it apart and had it for dinner." Ryu snorted and handed the weapon over. The old man's eyes widened, and he took it almost reverentially.

"This... this is it! It's true! It does exist! The boomerang! It's... perfect!" He held it up, turned to a line of palm trees, and flung it out. The boomerang whirled through the air in an arc, knocking coconuts out of each tree before returning to the ex-solider, who grabbed it again. The others stared.

"How did you do that?" Ryu demanded.

"You just have to throw it the right way." The old man explained. "Its shape is designed to fly in that arc and return to you. You could hit ten enemies at once with this baby." He handed it back to Ryu. "All right, Light Dragon... you've earned this. As for Nabal..." He gave them all direct looks. "You can't just use your weapons in that case. You have to use your head, too. Do you know anything about the GrimFowl?"

"Well, they're normally tame birds..." Bo scratched his head. "Unless you steal their eggs."

"Exactly!" The old man nodded. "Take just one egg, and the entire flock will go berserk! They're horrendously nasty animals to fight. So, if you could figure out some way to use them as weapons against your enemies..." Ox blinked.

"Like... how?"

"Like..." Ryu slowly smiled. It was not a nice smile. "Like throwing the egg over the wall of Nabal..." Ox smiled as well.

"That would be... interesting to watch."

"You'll have to get in there once the soldiers are all distracted with the GrimFowl and make sure the prisoners don't get attacked." The ex-soldier cautioned. "Can you do that?" Ryu nodded.

"Yeah. We'll handle it. And... thanks, old man."

"No problem, young man." The ex-soldier grunted, going back to work on his sword. "Emperor Zog needs to be taught a lesson. I never liked him when he was a Prince, and I like him even less now. Somebody should shut him down smartlike!" Ryu nodded in agreement.

"That's what we're gonna do."

"Hey, cloaked guy!" Ox bellowed into the trees of the GrimFowl Woods. "Cloaked guy, you here?"

"I didn't see him." Karn reported as he dropped out of the foliage.

"Me either." Bo admitted, appearing out from the side of a trunk as if by magic. "He's not here any more... but I did find an egg."

"Good job." Ryu nodded. "Take us to it." The efficient Forest Clanner quickly led the group to a clearing where several nests were lying on the ground. Four GrimFowl were nearby, watching them inquisitively, and a single purple egg, half as large as Ryu's entire body, was sitting in a nest. The Light Dragon took a deep breath.

"Right... I'd better transform first, in case there's trouble."

"Use the Ice Dragon form." Nina advised. "The other two could start a forest fire."

"Don't even say that." Bo shuddered. Ryu nodded.

"Good point. Very good." Transforming into the pale blue reptile, he walked over to the nest and picked up the egg in one claw. Instantly, the GrimFowl changed. Their eyes flashed, and one of them released an angry caw. Instantly, many more charged out of the brush and surrounded the group. Ryu swore; he and Nina could fly away, but there was no way out for the others.

"If you had a plan, now would be a good time to try it, boss." Gobi grinned nervously and tried to look harmless. The GrimFowl didn't appear convinced.

"That cloaked guy said these birds were really intelligent." Ryu remembered. "Let's see if their leader understands this!" Swooping towards the largest GrimFowl, he shrieked angrily. The GrimFowl looked up at him and cawed back. Ryu pointed at himself with his free claw, then pointed at the GrimFowl leader, shrieking again. It seemed to understand; with another caw, the other birds backed away a little, but still surrounded the others. Ryu dropped to the ground in front of the leader. Cawing wildly, the GrimFowl attacked, lashing its head out on the elongated neck to gouge for his eyes. Ryu moved his head left and swiped at its face with his claws. Screeching, the bird drew back and raised its talon to try and gut him. Fortunately, Ryu's scales resisted the slash, and the bird was left open to a savaging of its thigh.

"Use your breath!" Nina cheered. A GrimFowl knocked her flat with its wing. Ryu growled angrily and launched himself at the GrimFowl's neck. The crafty bird dodged, and Ryu only recieved a mouthful of feathers before being knocked away by a hard peck. Realizing that Nina's advice was his only chance, Ryu backed off a bit. The GrimFowl lunged forward with its beak again, and Ryu blew freezing air right into its face. The angry bird turned blue with cold, but still kept moving, forcing its way through the ice. Ryu prepared for another blast, but the GrimFowl struck first; opening its own beak, it hit him with a blast of fire.

"Whoa! I didn't know they could do that!" Karn yelped and was buffeted as Nina had been. Ryu hissed; in this form, being hit with flames was like being inside an active volcano. The GrimFowl cawed triumphantly and opened its beak again, but this time Ryu was ready, and spat another cloud of frost straight into the open beak just as the flames were emerging. A massive cloud of boiling steam blew out of the GrimFowl's ear tufts, and there was a smell of cooking poultry as it slowly fell forward, beak still gaping. Ryu turned and roared at the other GrimFowl, who took a step back. Taking the cue, the rest of the group copied his roar as best they could. The deadly birds fell back, but remained fairly close, still watching the egg.

"Looks like this is only a temporary reprieve, Ryu." Bo frowned. "They'll come after us again in a few minutes if we don't do something."

"Which way is Nabal?" Ryu asked. Bo walked north, and the GrimFowl in his way grudgingly moved. The rest of the group followed him, Ryu in the rear with the Egg. The GrimFowl followed him like dogs on leashes. Within minutes, they were at the edge of the Woods. Ryu grunted and returned to his humanoid form. The GrimFowl began edging closer.

"Sure that was a good move, boss?" Gobi asked, watching them nervously. Ryu nodded.

"Yeah. I WANT them to be ready to fight. Now, Karn, do your fusion."

"Do we have to?" Gobi groaned. Ryu nodded firmly. Sighing, the Maniro moved close to Karn and Bo, and the three performed the Shin spell again.

"What do you need me to do?" Shin asked. Ryu gave him the Egg. The GrimFowl looked a little taken aback at the sight of the fierce Fusion, but they kept keeping closer.

"You're the fastest. Run over to Nabal, and throw that Egg over the walls! Try to get it onto a balcony!" Ryu instructed him. Shin nodded and took off like a streak of lightning. With surprised caws, the GrimFowl gave chase. The sentries at Nabal only had time to blink before Shin was near. With a mighty whoop, the Fusion hurled the GrimFowl Egg like a missile. It smacked into the face of a soldier on a third floor balcony. He was instantly killed, but the Egg was cushioned by his body and remained unharmed. The soldiers stared at it for a moment, then switched their vision back to the front just in time to see death with talons and curved beaks. The GrimFowl swarmed into Nabal like a tidal wave. Shin wisely stood out of the way, then blasted back to the group. "Right, job done. Should I defuse now?"

"Not yet." Ryu shook his head. "We might still need you for whoever's in charge here... might be Admiral Cean." Shin nodded. Ox watched the GrimFowl work with grim satisfaction, the birds now swarming through the door. Screams of agony came from within, but the Builder Clanner only smiled wider.

"We should go... we have to get the prisoners." Ryu nodded.

"Let's move!" They entered Nabal with no resistance; one or two guards were still running around the entryway being pursued by birds, but the rest had all been slain, and the archers on the balcony had their minds too busy on the threat they heard approaching from the stairs to worry about watching. Inside, Nabal was a slaughterhouse. The bodies of dead soldiers were slumped against walls, hanging from chandeliers, sprawled across the floor. Nina covered her mouth, but the other three were unmoved; they simply kept moving, and the Princess followed them after a moment.

"I think the prisons in Nabal are towards the back." Ox guessed, as they turned into a hall that bore no signs of the GrimFowl's passage. The Builder Clanner let loose a huge sigh of relief. "This hall should go that way... looks like the birds didn't go after them." They turned a corner, and found themselves facing a dead end. The wall looked as if it had been hastily erected; it was loose and shabby. Ox stepped up and broke it down with a single punch. Behind it, company was waiting.

"Well done, all of you." The tallest man sneered. He was wearing officer's armor that appeared to have been made out of silver. His clothes under it were deep purple, and his cape was a beautiful turquoise. Above a perfect handlebar mustache, his eyes glinted coldly. "Light Dragon Ryu and friends... trust you to know the only way to successfully attack Nabal. You've done quite well... this castle will fall shortly. My congratulations."

"Admiral Cean, I presume." Ryu greeted him coldly. "Your reputation precedes you... Dark Dragon filth."

"You and your little party have a certain reputation as well... Light Dragon scum." Admiral Cean returned coolly, without an inch of temper. "You've made quite a name for yourself. Unfortunately, I do not have time to dispute with you. Before the Gold Lord left this morning, he ordered me to be gone as well by tonight. Thus, I must regrettably allow my underlings to deal with you. I trust you recognize them, Ox?" For the first time, Ryu noticed the other three Dark Dragons soldiers standing there. They were identical, both in uniform and in face, wearing the same turquoise as Cean's cape. Their eyes were strangely a deep gold.

"Oh, yes." Ox growled, clutching his sledge closer. "The Slime Brothers. I remember you three very well."

"The Builder Clanner remembers us." The first said.

"How smart of him. What did we do again?" The second pretended to forget.

"Oh yes, captured his wife and all the women and children." The third informed him. All three smirked cruelly.

"Stop goofing around and kill them." Cean ordered as he walked away behind them, his cape swirling. "Or if you can't manage that, at least keep them busy until I leave."

"Not to worry, sir." The first scowled angrily.

"They've destroyed our beautiful castle, after all." The second began to glow.

"We'll punish them good and proper!" The third taunted. All three Slime Brothers transformed at once.

"Get ready!" Ox yelled. "This is how they sneaked into our village!" Ryu stared. The Slime Brothers were aptly named. They had become vaguely humanoid figures made of the same acidic blue slime that formed the common monster around his hometown. Unlike the average Slime, however, they had powerful arms and chests rising from their bases. At their tops were the same eerie golden eyes. With burbling howls, the Slime Brothers charged into the fray, lashing out with their fists. Nina flew above one, dodging the blow, and was still blown back by the force of it.

"Strong... hurry up, guys! Don't get into a prolonged fight with these slimeballs!" The Princess yelled, following her usual tactic of powering up the others. Ryu roared and became the Thunder Whelp, then dived on one of the Slime Brothers, belching lightning. Ox took the second one, bashing at it wildly with his sledge. The Slime Brother chuckled and formed its fists together into a similar hammer shape. Ox grunted in surprise as it smashed the appendage into his side, but did not move. The Slime Brother stared at him in shock, and the Builder Clanner chuckled grimly.

"THIS is how you do it, Slime! No charge!" Winding up, he smashed the Slime Brother like a baseball, sending it flying into a wall. The third was sneaking up on him, about to jump him from behind, when three arrows smashed into its back, lodging inside the gooey substance. Shrieking wetly, it turned around. Shin smirked and made a "come-on" motion with his hand.

"Can't take one of us by yourself, wetback?" The Slime Brother dived at him, but Shin easily moved out of the way and shot it again. "You're going to have to do better than that, oozebrain!" While he continued leading it around, Ryu was rolling on the ground with his enemy, pumping repeated jolts into it while recieving punishing blows from the thing's powerful acidic limbs. The Slime Brother moved slower with each hit, but refused to be finished. Angered, Ryu bit into its shoulder and immediately regretted it, spitting out the acid. The Slime Brother chuckled and used the moment of distracton to stun him with a hit between the eyes. It wound up for a following blow to finish him, then gasped as Nina's rapier slammed home into the top of its head. Ryu scrambled out as the thing lost cohesion and dissolved into a blue puddle on the floor. Ryu smiled at Nina gratefully, then turned and blasted Shin's Slime Brother just as the Fusion delivered another arrow storm. Hit by both assaults simultaneously, the Slime Brother collapsed as well. All three turned to see Ox finish his off, pulping it with his hammer.  
"Quick, after Cean!" Ryu yelled, but Ox shook his head.

"This isn't over... not yet. Nina, quick, patch us up." Nina nodded and did so without question. Shin raised an eyebrow.

"Whaddaya mean, it's not over, big guy? These stinkers are liquified!"

"That's what we thought." Ox chuckled without a trace of humor. "We thought they were just puddles... but we were wrong, weren't we, boys? Come on back out, already, and let's get this over with!"

"Hee hee hee..."

"Ox is right!"

"Let's go!" The three puddles suddenly moved, swarming together. They mixed, and from the ground, one humongous entity formed. A massive dome of glistening blue goo hovering three feet above the ground, it was larger than any other Dark Dragon transformations they had seen before. Two humongous golden eyes glared down at them.

"We are now... the Slime-X! Prepare to be crushed!"

"Like we haven't heard that before!" Ryu howled, pumping hundreds of volts directly into the Slime-X. The titanic slime just chuckled and shot a blob of itself back. Ryu buckled as it slammed into his chest, but the other three were already on the attack.

"WHY do you Dark Dragons ALWAYS spit slimeballs!" Shin complained, his arms a blur as they fired arrow after arrow into the Slime-X's hide. "It's disgusting! Can't you come up with a new idea, like explosions or something?"

"Don't give them ideas, you three!" Nina chided as she flew near the ceiling. Increasing her own speed and durability, she swooped down and went at the Slime-X with a will, stabbing and dodging. Ox was taking a more direct approach; he was simply hammering madly at the beast's underside, completely ignoring all damage inflicted upon him.

"My wife... my neighbors... my home... you took them all, you disgusting filth!"

"What of it?" The Slime-X laughed contemptuously, firing at all of them. "We are part of the Dark Dragon Empire! This entire world is ours to do with as we please! You think to dictate what we should do to us? What a joke!"

"Pretty sorry joke, since nobody's laughing!" Ryu growled, springing back into the air. Nina and Shin resumed their attacks as well, flying and running around. All three kept on lashing at the Slime-X with speedy, stinging attacks, taunting it into firing on them. Growling, it did so, but they continued dodging, ignoring the glancing blows. Slime-X chuckled grimly; despite their aggravations, the three were doing almost no damage.

"Keep running, little ones... I'll get you eventually... AH!" Gasping in pain, it realized too late that it had forgotten Ox. The Builder Clanner had continued boring into its underside the entire time, not even noticing the earlier attacks dropped on him. Now, he had carved a hole deep into the Slime-X's core, and was still going strong with his sledge, his face a mask of vengeance. Ryu, Nina and Shin stopped attacking; they were needed no longer as distractions. Ox had done the job. The Slime-X moved towards the stairs, attempting to escape, but Ox hit it again in the rear, punching a hole straight through it, and the monster moaned.

"Running away?" The burly Builder Clanner growled, smashing out another section of sludge. "After your talk of the mighty Dark Dragon Empire... after all your taunts and bravado... after everything you've done... you RUN!" Bellowing like some norse god, he blew out one of the Slime-X's eyes, then crushed the other. "You stinking slime! Take your cowardice with you to hell! GO!" The Slime Brothers screamed, long and loud, as Ox pounded each and every piece of their combined form into the ground. When he was done, numerous craters were punched into the floor, each with a tiny puddle of blue sludge in it, none of them moving. Ox turned to his comrades, blowing air through his beard.

"Whoa. Feel better, Ox?" Shin remarked with awe. Ox slowly nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, I do. NOW we chase Admiral Cean!"

"Talking my language, big man!" Ryu grinned as the four of them bolted after the Dark Dragon officer. As they passed a barred cell, Ox screeched to a halt.

"The prisoners... they're in there!" Grabbing the iron bars, he ripped them out with his bare hands. A pretty young woman with horns in a simple purple dress rushed out. "Eika... are you all right?"

"There's no time, Ox!" She pointed down the hall frantically. "Admiral Cean and his remaining men just came past here with the Torpedo! They plan to finish building it themselves at sea, then use it on Prima! You have to stop them!" Ox hesitated. "We're fine, Ox! Go! Hurry and stop them!"

"She's right, Ox!" Nina urged. "We need to move!"

"All right... all right." Growling, the big Builder Clanner tore off down the hall, the other three in pursuit. As they thundered out the back of Nabal onto its docks, they groaned. The ships were already pulling away.

"I see you killed the Slime Brothers!" Admiral Cean called from the deck of the lead ship. "Very good, all of you! But not quite good enough, I'm afraid!" He bowed mockingly. "Light Dragon Ryu, I see now that no underlings, no matter how powerful, can stop you. I'll find you and take care of you myself... AFTER I completely obliterate Prima, that is!" Emotionlessly, Shin fired an arrow at his head. Cean easily caught it in his hand and contemptuously snapped it. Laughing, the Dark Dragon Admiral sailed away, leaving the group on the dock, staring after his wake. The woman named Eika walked up behind them.

"He... got away, didn't he?" She asked. The group slowly nodded.

"Are you... Ox's wife?" Nina asked. Eika nodded.

"Yes... I wish I could get to know you all better, but there's no time!"

"That's right!" Gobi said as Shin reverted. "We need to get back to Prima... High Merchant Gartes might still have an idea!" Ryu slowly nodded.

"All right. We'll head for Prima first thing in the morning." Ox took his wife into his arms.

"Don't worry, Eika... we'll do this. These guys... they're amazing. We're going to save the world... make it a safe place for our children..."

"Six months to go..." The pretty Builder Clanner sighed. "Ox... do you realy think..."

"Yeah. We can. Trust me." Ox kissed her to cut off further discussion.

"Six months... does that mean what I think it does?" Ryu whispered to Nina. She nodded.

"I think so... she's with child. It's not visible yet, but it seems that way." She shook her head. "All the more reason we have to do this."

"I already have all the reasons in the world." Ryu responded grimly, looking out over the ocean where Cean's ships had gone. The calm waters almost seemed to be mocking them as they reflected the moonlight, showing no trace of what had been there only moments before.


	11. Chapter 10: Well, That's Just Prima

**__**

Chapter 10: Well, That's Just Prima

"Hey, boss. We're... we're back." Gobi chuckled nervously as the group entered Gartes' office. The High Merchant was waiting for them, sitting behind his desk with his hands steepled and a benevolent smile on his face. Ryu instantly realized that they were screwed.

"You didn't destroy the torpedo." Gartes greeted them. It was not a question.

"Ah... afraid not." Ryu admitted. "We took down Nabal Castle, freed all the prisoners, killed the Slime Brothers and another General, and liberated the Lands of the Builder Clan... but Cean got away with the torpedo."

"And I'm sure all of those accomplishments will be a great comfort to the people of Prima when we're all being sold in Scande as chunky-style." Gartes said sarcastically. He buried his head in his hands. "This is it. We're doomed. Done for. Nothing can save us now."

"Not just yet, my lord." Bo tried to cheer him up. "There's still some time; the torpedo wasn't done yet. At sea, and without the Builder Clan, it'll take them some time to finish." Gartes didn't raise his head.

"That makes no difference. We can't attack those ships; if the Great Fish approach, they send out full flying-reptile dragons to run them off. No amount of time can change that."

"Wait..." Ryu said, remembering his last conference with Ladon. "If all else fails... my lord, do you know anything about a legendary sorceress?" Slowly, Gartes looked up at him with a strange expression on his face.

"Well, now. How in the world did you think of that?"

"Some books I had back home mentioned a couple things about a legendary sorceress once." Ryu lied glibly, aware of the others all watching him as well. "Don't really know any details, but I figured if we've got nothing else..."

"That may very well be the only shot we've got." Gartes leaned back in his chair, thinking fast. The depressed look was gone from his eyes. "Right, then. You've been to Arad, right? Did you see the moving city of Wisdon there?"

"Yeah." Nina confirmed. "Strange place."

"Legend has it that inside that city, which has not been entered by mortals for hundreds of years, is a sorceress of unfathomable beauty, wisdom and power." Gartes explained. "Come on, follow me. There's somebody here who knows more about it than I do." Taking them up a level, he led them to an ancient, red-scaled Maniro who was resting in a huge bed. Gartes bowed respectfully to him. "Father... we need your help."

"Eh? Who disturbs my sleep?" The old Maniro grunted, turning his head to look at them. "Oh, Gartes... what are you talking about?"

"Can you tell us about the legendary sorceress of Wisdon, sir?" Nina asked with her prettiest smile. The old Maniro scratched his chin.

"The sorceress, eh... she sleeps in Wisdon, the moving city. Apparently, she's been there for hundreds of years, ever since the last days of the War of the Dragons..." Ryu hissed sharply with surprise. The old Maniro continued, not hearing him. "All sorts of rumors... some say she's from an extremely rare Clan... some say she rises to assist every Light Dragon hero who needs her... heck, some say she was the twin sister of the Goddess Myria or the daughter of Ladon himself... nobody knows how much of that is true or not. But she has powers beyond any other mortal." He suddenly gave them all a piercing look. "She won't like to be woken up... but with the straits we're in right now, we don't have much choice."

"Huh?" Gartes blinked. "But, dad... how'd you know..."

"I still know how to keep my eyes and ears open, son." The old Maniro reprimended Gartes. "I know what's happening. There's only one way to get into Wisdon unless you're a spirit, which none of you are." Reaching underneath his bed, he pulled out a statue about the size of Ryu's head. Carved entirely out of some colossal indigo gem, it was shaped like a beautiful lady. Below her waist, however, her body became a snake's tail. None of them had seen somebody who looked like that before. The old man gave the statue to Ryu, who grunted a little from its weight but held it. "Walk towards Wisdon with this held high, and it will cease its moving long enough to allow your group to enter."

"I'll go tell Trout we'll need him again." Gartes decided, hurrying off. "Get ready, all of you. We don't have much time."

"Great. Back to Arad again." Gobi groaned. "I still have sand in my scales from the last time..."

"Well, Wisdon moves around a lot, so with luck it'll be close to us when we arrive." Karn suggested hopefully. Gobi glared at him.

"More likely it'll be on the other side and we'll wander around, never finding it, before dying miserably."

"We'll just have to get lucky!" The perky thief tried again. Gobi responded by rolling his eyes.

"If we were lucky, we would have taken out Cean back at Nabal, and we wouldn't have to go back to Arad in the first place."

"Stop fighting, you two." Ox stepped between them. "We've got enough trouble as is." Being as how they couldn't see each other at all past the massive Builder Clanner, Karn and Gobi didn't really have a choice but to agree.

"Yeah, and we've got more important things to talk about..." Bo frowned, looking directly at Ryu. Nina did so as well, nodding.

"Yeah. We need to talk, Ryu."

"About what?" Ryu chuckled, trying his best to look innocent. Unfortunately, they weren't fooled.

"Vaguely mentioned in a couple books back home? Come on, Ryu." The Princess shook her head. "That's bull. You know it, I know it, we all know it. You found out about the legendary sorceress from a completely different source."

"Well..." Ryu looked away.

"And this isn't the first time this has happened, either." Bo reminded him. "You've mysteriously come up with exactly what we needed out of the blue several times before now. How are you doing it, boss?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Ryu fidgeted. "Besides, we don't really have time to discuss this, do we? Every second is counting right now before the torpedo is finished. We need to get down to the loading section... Trout should be getting there now. Come on, time's wasting!"

"All right..." Bo agreed slowly. "But when Prima's saved, we're going to talk about this again, boss." Nina and the others nodded firmly in agreement.

"All right, explain this to me again." Gobi puffed as the group reached the top of another sand dune. "Explain to me... WHY Trout got to stay back at the beach, with the ocean, and I had to come with you guys to the desert, withOUT the ocean."

"Because you're one of the group, and Trout's just temporary transportation." Karn whistled a little tune as he slid down the other side of the dune. "Nothing personal to Trout, he's a good guy. He's just not one of THE guys. You are. We stick together."

"In that case, can I submit my two weeks' notice? Except make it a two minutes' notice?" The fat Maniro grumbled. "Where is this place, anyways? You said you saw it an hour ago, Bo."

"Yeah, but it moves, remember?" Bo informed him. "It can't be too far; we'll find it... soon..." He stared upward. Wisdon had just appeared over a dune not fifty feet away behind Gobi. "Ryu, quick. Get that statue out before it bolts. This is our best chance."

"What? Where is it?" Gobi slowly turned around. His mouth fell open. "...Oh." Wisdon was an amazing sight; atop a perfectly square-sided hill of dirt, the marble buildings shone with ancient grandeur and beauty, despite their age and decay. Ryu pushed past him, grunting as he held the Statue aloft. The moving city slowly ground to a halt, and rotated around until a set of stairs in the hillside were facing the group. Slowly, Karn set a foot on them, then another.

"It's safe. Come on!" The others rushed aboard, Ryu last. As soon as he was on the stairs, the city took off again, moving across the dunes. Strangely, the stairs did not feel like they were in motion; there was no trouble at all climbing to the top. As they reached the end of the stairs, all of the group stood still. Even Gobi could not help it. Unbidden, an image of Wisdon as it once must have been crept into their minds. The buildings of marble shining brightly in the noon sun as inhabitants walked down the smoothly paved streets, with rich green grass and flowers watching from the sides. Small children playing in the deep blue waters of the moat (Gobi in particular thought at length on this part) that surrounded the central temple-palace at the center of the city.

"All of that... gone..." Ryu whispered. Wisdon was no longer the great city it had been before. The marble was stained with brown sand, the buildings crumbling with gaping holes. There were no more people walking down the streets, no plant life growing on the side, no water in the moat. Only ruins... a hollow, broken shell. "What... happened here?"

"Time happened, young Light Dragon." A voice answered. Ahead of them, two pairs of eyes appeared, floating in the air. One yellow, one green. "It has been countless centuries since a living being walked the streets of Wisdon. Ever since the Dragon War..."

"That long?" Bo asked wonderingly.

"Yes..." The eyes closed for a moment. "Before then, this was the world's greatest center of learning, especially in magic... people from all over came here to study. Human, Wing, Forest, Grassrunner, Fusion, Maniro, Woren, Builder, Mole, Shell, Light Dragon, Dark Dragon... even a few Grass Men... no distinction was ever made between them. All came in pursuit of knowledge above all else, and all were comrades here for that purpose, no matter where they came from and what they did."

"I've never even heard of some of those clans." Nina shook her head in wonder. "I wish I could have been here, even for only an hour, in those days..."

"It was a time of wonder for Wisdon." They eyes agreed. "But after the War, the Dragon God decreed that Wisdon must be abandoned. Every scholar, every mage had no choice but to leave, taking all their knowledge with them. Wisdon became the city that moved, never standing still, never resting... and we became the only ones who could enter. Until now. It's been a while, Light Dragon..." Clouds of blue and red gas appeared around the eyes.

"Wisp! Cloud!" Ryu instantly recognized the Guardians. "So, is this where you come when you're not watching the Goddess Keys?"

"Us, and one more..." Cloud nodded. "You come with the Statue, as you were destined to. The one who created it is the only truly living one left in Wisdon."

"The legendary sorceress?" Karn guessed.

"Indeed, young thief." Wisp agreed approvingly. "She remained here to watch the last man leave, then went into the central temple-palace and fell asleep. She has continued to sleep for thousands of years, ever since then."

"Then she WAS alive during the War of the Dragons?" Ox asked, wide-eyed. Cloud snorted with mirth.

"Of course she was... in fact, she was one of those who accompanied your ancestor whose name you bear, Ryu."

"She... was?" Ryu whispered. "Then she... helped hide the Goddess Keys originally?"

"Correct." Wisp nodded. "She sleeps until the Goddess Keys return to the world, wherupon she will be awakened by the next Light Dragon Ryu. That time has come. Follow us, please." The two spirits floated towards a staircase in the ground, leading downwards, and the group followed them. The tunnels beneath Wisdon were just as ancient and ruined as the city above, the obsidian-tiled floors dull with centuries of dust. After only a few minutes, they emerged behind the temple-palace and silently filed into it. Here, the city of Wisdon had not been changed. The royal purple floor tiles still gleamed brightly, and the walls were unbroken.

"You may drink, if you wish." Wisp offered as they entered the main room. On the opposite wall was a Spring of Life, flowing with clear blue water. "It is still pure, even after all this time." Gobi instantly ran over and began drinking as much as he could. The others did so as well, more respectfully. When they were done, they followed the two spirits up a flight of stairs. The second floor of the temple-palace was all one room, and the center of Wisdon. Silver murals covered all the walls with indicepherable pictures and words. Statues of Ladon were lined up, side by side. And in the back of the room, lying on a simple cot, was the Legendary Sorceress of Wisdon. Before they could get a closer look at her, an apparition of green gas materialized before them.

"So, this is the Light Dragon Ryu..." It spoke, opening bright red eyes. "Not very impressive. This one defeated you both?"

"Indeed, he and his friends did." Cloud confirmed. "They are here, as we knew they would be, Myst. It is time for her to awaken."

"It is our duty to guard her, fool." Myst snapped, not convinced. "In addition to the Goddss Keys. I have not yet lost mine to them, and see no reason to surrender my other duty to them as well." Wisp sighed heavily.

"Then what would you have us do, Myst? We cannot simply turn them away." The green spirit's eyes narrowed as he watched the group.

"If you're certain he's so powerful, why not let him prove his worth? The six of them, against the three of us?"

"If it's all you'll accept..." Cloud turned to Ryu apologetically. "Sorry. I know you've already beaten me and Wisp, but Myst is... well..."

"We understand." Ryu smiled. "All right, we agree."

"Show me what you're made of, then!" Myst roared, charging the Light Dragon. Ryu met him head-on as the Fire Whelp, and the two began exchanging blasts of lightning and fire. Wisp was met by Nina and Ox on the left. As he began spewing iceballs, Nina supercharged the big Builder Clanner, who charged forward without even an attempt at subtlety, bashing wildly. Cloud had gone to the right, and watched as Karn, Bo and Gobi fused together.

"Ready for a little one-on-one, friend?" Shin grinned, loosing several huge shafts into the red mist. Cloud grunted, both with pain and approval, as he responded in kind.

"Good... you're learning your Clan's legacy, Karn!" At the center of the room, Ryu and Myst were still grappling with each other. The Fire Whelp's claws and teeth could not find purchase in the green gas, and Myst's bolts of electricity were not enough to take down the dragon's scaled hide.

"Not bad, I will admit!" Myst grudgingly began to give way. "You have seen many fights in a short time, have you not, Light Dragon?"

"And I learn fast, too, friend!" Ryu grinned, hitting the red eyes directly with another burst of flame.

"Then I had best get serious, while I can..." Myst smiled. Ryu blinked for a moment, then screamed in pain as Myst brought down a blood-chillingly cold blizzard on the entire room. Wisp was unaffected, but Nina, Ox, Shin and Cloud all made various noises of annoyance and pain.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing!" Cloud yelled.

"Yeah, watch... Ryu!" Nina shrieked. The Fire Whelp was bleeding all over his body, and still he fought on against Myst. Wisp nodded with approval.

"He has even more spirit than when we-ARGH!" He dissipated as Ox crunched his face into the wall with a particularly vicious swipe, then dove at Myst. At the same time, Cloud cleared the ice from his eyes only to have them pierced by a dozen arrows. He vanished as well, and Shin joined the others. Myst broke off his assault on Ryu to defend against hammer and arrows while Nina began using all of her white magic on the Fire Whelp.

"I'm... okay..." Ryu grunted, staggering back to his feet. "Right, let's finish this!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Myst laughed, using his Blizzard spell again. Ryu, charging and shrieking, was brought down hard. Unfortunately, Ox and Shin were not as affected, and their weapons finished the task. Myst could hold out no more, and with an angry howl he too vanished. Ox turned with a grin on his face that vanished when he saw his leader.

"Ryu! Nina, come on!" The two white magic users quickly applied every healing spell they had on him, and Ryu reverted to his original form. Sighing in relief, Shin also reverted.

"Did you get him?" Ryu grunted, standing up. "Yeah... looks like it. Good job, guys..."

"Never mind that!" Nina yelled. "You idiot, what were you thinking, charging into another one of those when the first messed you up so badly?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Ryu yelled back. "Just sit there and let you guys fight without me?"

"It would have been better then almost getting killed unnecesserily!" Nina retorted. "And another thing-"

"Ahem." Wisp coughed. The group all turned their heads to look at the three spirits. "If you don't mind... I believe friend Myst has had the point adequately proven to him."

"Yes, yes, you're very determined. Let's get on with it." Myst grumbled. "Come on..." The three spirits floated over to surround the legendary sorceress, and the group approached as well. The sorceress if Wisdon was, as Gartes' father had said, an extraordinarly beautiful woman; not really looking particularly young or old, but with a strange, almost timeless cast to her features. She was wearing a deep purple combination of vest and cape that was open down the center in front in a way that the males, Bo and Karn in particular, found very interesting. Below it, her body was a long, green snake's tail. Her long hair was partially bound in a kercheif of the same color as the vest.

"It's the exact same color as Ryu's..." Nina realized. "Don't all Light Dragons have blue hair?"

"Yeah..." Ryu agreed. "Somehow, though, I don't think she's a Light Dragon. But I've never seen a Clan like her before..."

"Sorceress, there's somebody here to see you." Wisp attempted to raise her. The sorceress didn't even twitch. "No response... figures. You try, Cloud."

"Sorceress, a descendant of the legendary hero has arrived. Please wake up." Cloud yelled. Again, the sorceress didn't budge. "Still nothing. Why am I not surprised by this. Your turn, Myst."

"Looks like I'll have to resort to Plan B..." The grumpy green gas decided. All of the group jumped as he called down a lightning bolt that hit the Sorceress full-on in the face. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

"Aaaa... what? What's going on here?" She raised her upper half and glanced around. The spirits quickly faded away. She saw Ryu. "What the-? Ryu? What are you doing back here? You'd better have a very good reason for waking me up, or else-!" She raised an ancient wooden cane threateningly.

"Um... I don't think I'm... who you think I am..." Ryu stammered, backing off. The Sorceress moved forward off of her cot, the tip of her tail twitching threateningly.

"What are you talking about, Ryu? Did you hit your head? A good Nova spell should clear that right up!"

"Wait!" Nina flew into her path. "Don't! This isn't the Ryu you think it is!"

"It's not?" The sorceress blinked, nonplussed. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Would have saved some time!" She frowned and looked closer at Ryu. "Hm... you're right. Not the same. You'll be the next one, then... can't believe it's been that long already..."

"You knew I'd be coming?" Ryu asked, somehow not that surprised. The sorceress gave him a look.

"Of course I did. Don't say stupid things." She pursed her lips. "Hm... younger than the last one... but cuter, too." She smiled. "And pretty determined, to even get here. I think I like you, Ryu. All right, I'll help you out. What do you need?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story..." Ryu began. She cut him off.

"Shorten it, then. You're on a time limit, aren't you?"

"Well... yes." Ryu admitted. "All right then... basically, we need your help to sink the Dark Dragon fleet before they can complete their torpedo."

"Dark Dragons?" The sorceress stared at him incredulously. "Is that stupid Dragon War STILL going on? I sleep for thousands of years, and I wake up right back where I started! UGH!" She began pacing back and forth, muttering to herself, then stopped. "All right. I think I have what you need." She went over to her cot and began rummaging around under the mattress, eventually coming up with a white egg about the size of a chicken's, with purple spots. She carelessly tossed it to Ryu. "Here, take it."

"What is it?" The Light Dragon asked. She yawned, crawling back onto the cot.

"It's an old egg, of course. Get some Gills from the Maniros... oh wait, you already have those, don't you? Right, go find an undersea volcano near where the Dark Dragons are, and drop the egg into the crater. The heat will make it hatch, and the beast inside will create a typhoon to wipe out any ships nearby."

"That's great!" Karn practically danced with joy. "That'll completely wreck them! Let's see them try to finish the torpedo after that!"

"That's the idea, Karn." The sorceress addressed him by name, even though she hadn't been told it. "Now, I'm going back to sleep. Good luck to you all. Yawn!" Lying back down, she was instantly out.

"Strange lady..." Bo muttered as they walked back out.

"Very strange." Ox agreed. "But remember, she's thousands of years old. I guess anybody who lived that long would be kind of strange."

"Probably." Karn nodded. The group emerged from the tunnels, back into the main city of Wisdon. "Hey, look over there. What are the spirits doing?" The three spirits were together, crowding around something.

"Well, why don't you kick him out, then?" Cloud was asking indignantly. Myst looked thoroughly confused.

"Somehow, I just... can't..."

"What's up, guys?" Ryu asked as they approached. Then he saw what they were talking about, and he just stared in utter disbelief. It was a familiar-looking bum. "What... how did YOU get HERE?"

"I stuck my thumb out and whistled, young'un!" Uncle Specs chortled. The old man was looking as disreputable as ever, covered in sand. "That's always how you pick up a ride! Works every time!"

"I take it this is that 'Uncle Specs' guy you told us about?" Gobi muttered to Bo. The Forest Clanner nodded.

"Yup. The one and hopefully only. No mistaking him."

"Somebody mention my name?" Uncle Specs demanded, peering around. "I'll knock 'is block off! I've got a copyright on it! I'll kill the bum!"

"What's a cop... never mind." Ryu shook his head despairingly. "What are you doing here, anyways, old man?"

"It's not old man, it's Uncle Specs!" The ancient maniac informed him. "You can call me my name, we're old friends! Anyways, I'm here on an archaelogical expedition! This place is a mother lode!"

"Well, whatever THAT is, I'm sure you'll have fun with it." Ryu sighed, walking past him. "We've got to be going. See you later."

"All right, then!" Uncle Specs waved as the rest followed. "Give my best to Admiral Cean!" Ryu started to turn around at that, but changed his mind and kept walking, muttering a few choice words under his breath.

"Hang on! We're going to be there soon!" Trout announced cheerfully. The group were riding on the back of the huge Great Fish, blasting towards the remainder of the Dark Dragon Fleet at top speed. Both Maniros fervently assured the others that they knew the exact location of a nearby volcano. Ryu's eyes narrowed as he spotted the enemy ships far above them. Trout was intentionally hugging the ocean floor as closely as possible to avoid being spotted. "There! Look, see it?"

"Yeah, that's a volcano, all right..." Bo agreed. "We've got a couple near my Clan's lands, so I recognize them. How the heck do they still work underwater, though?"

"Not even our top scientests know that." Gobi admitted. "They're there, though. No question about that. Think this is close enough to the Dark Dragons?"

"It'll have to be." Ryu grunted. "Take us up to the top of that thing, Trout... we need to hurl the egg into the crater."

"I just hope the Dark Dragons don't see us..." The Great Fish fretted, swimming upwards. As they approached, Ryu could see the lava inside the crater.

"Closer, Trout..." The Great Fish did so, and Ryu stretched his arm back. "Right... here goes nothing!" He hurled the old egg with everything he had. The tiny, purple-spotted dot flew straight and true into the center of the lava masses, vanishing without a sound. Trout quickly wheeled around and took off.

"So... now what?" Nina asked as they left the fleet behind, completely unnoticed.

"Now we wait, I guess." Karn shrugged. "That sorceress didn't say how long that egg would take to hatch. I just hope it happens before the torpedo is done."

"For some reason, so do I. Wonder why." Gobi muttered sardonically. "Well, there's Prima, anyways." As Trout pulled in to the loading area, the group noticed that the citizens were in an uproar, even for Prima. Trout reverted to a Maniro and cheerfully accosted one of them.

"Hey, Earl. What's going on here, eh?"

"She... she came here!" The Maniro named Earl was gibbering. "Just came right into town and waltzed over to the High Merchant's! Said she was here for Ryu! Who's Ryu?" Breaking free, he ran off. Ryu and the others stared at each other.

"She? It couldn't be..." Simultaneously, they bolted straight for the High Merchant's. Their suspicions were confirmed; as they entered his office, the legendary sorceress of Wisdon looked up irritably. She had been napping on a couch.

"You're back already? What's the rush? I wanted to get some more sleep before show time..." Gartes was behind the desk, his scales slightly pale.  
"Gobi... is this...?"  
"Yeah, it is, boss." Gobi nodded. "As for the rush, madame, that would be the torpedo aimed at our city. Which you are currently in, I might add."

"Oh, that." The sorceress stretched. "Well, did you drop the egg in the lava?"

"Just like you told us." Ryu confirmed. She winked at him.

"Well then, don't worry. In just a few hours, those Dark Dragons are going to be getting a VERY nasty surprise."

"Why did you come here, anyways, miss sorceress?" Nina asked pointedly. The sorceress shrugged.

"To be honest, I wasn't going to at first. I was just going back to sleep when some transient barged in and started raving about how the world was in chaos." The group groaned simultaneously. "After I threw him off the city, I started thinking. He had a point. I was pretty much fully awake at that point, and I did some investigating. Things out here are worse than I thought, and I decided I really didn't have any business napping through it." She grinned at Nina. "Plus, I noticed your group only had one girl and five guys, so I figured things might be a little strained."

"Excuse me?" Ox choked. "And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Ryu and Nina had gone bright red, unable to speak. Bo, however, laughed loudly, and Karn and Gobi were grinning.

"Not exactly, madame, but I don't think we'll mind anyways! Welcome aboard!"

"Okay, then!" The sorceress smirked. "One thing, though. Drop the 'madame', okay? My name is Deis. I already know all yours. Gartes here has briefed me on the details of the current situation already. And before you ask, yes, I do still remember most of my magic."

"Most?" Karn raised an eyebrow, to which she shrugged.

"Hey, give me a break. It's been a long time since I used any of it, so I'll probably still be fuzzy on the really complicated things. I'll pick it all back up before long, though, and I've still got enough to send most punks crying with their tails between their legs anyways." She twirled her wooden cane threateningly.

"On that note..." Gartes coughed politely. "You say it will be several hours before this... egg... hatches?" Deis nodded in agreement.

"About six hours."

"Then you might as well get some sleep." The High Merchant winced. "I'll... foot the bill for some rooms at the local Inn. Go on, rest up. I have an uncomfortable feeling you'll need it."

"Truer words have never been spoken, my lord." Ryu agreed as they left.

Exactly six hours from the volcano drop, the seven heroes rose from their beds. Dressing, they readied their weapons and walked out of their rooms. Without a word from anybody, they left the inn and strode down the streets towards the loading area. Behind them, High Merchant Gartes was mobilizing the citizens of Prima. Finally, they arrived, and Ryu turned to face them.

"Everybody ready?" He asked grimly. "That thing should be coming out any minute now. Once it does, that'll be it. No turning back."

"Won't the egg do all the work for us?" Karn asked. Deis shook her head.

"No... it'll wreck all the ships, and if it's not done yet, that'll be it for the torpedo, but it's almost certain that some of the soldiers will survive. Especially this Admiral Cean... he sounds like a real toughie."  
"You don't get to be millitary commander of the Dark Dragon Armies by sitting on your duff." Ox agreed. "But we can take him."

"Then we're all agreed on what we have to do." Ryu confirmed. "Once the fight starts, we all make for Cean. The citizens of Prima should be able to mop up the rest of the remaining soldiers, but we're the only ones who stand a chance of taking the big man down. And this won't be some arrogant General or overconfident Captain. This is the final battle of their eastern invasion. We win here, we stop Zog's movements cold. From this point on, we're in the big leagues. The Dark Dragons won't stop until each and every one of us is dead and gone, and I think we all know who they'll send to do it. I'll understand if anybody wants to turn back." Six heads shook in negation. "All right. High Merchant, are your boys okay?"

"We're ready to go." The High Merchant ran up, puffing. "And you?"

"Same here." Ryu nodded. "Inform your men to leave Admiral Cean to us, assuming he survives. They won't stand a chance against him."

"They'll stick to the ordinary soldiers." Gartes assured him. "Ryu... all of you... thank you. You've done so much already, and here you are, taking the front lines... and this isn't even your city..."

"It became our fight the moment the Dark Dragons became involved, sir." Ryu saluted sharply. Gartes saluted him back, then turned to one particular member of the group.

"Gobi."

"Yes, boss?" The fat Maniro answered, a bit uncertainly.

"Gobi, do you remember what I told you when I took away your license?" The High Merchant of Prima smiled. "I told you I was doing this to teach you a lesson, that you had to care about more than just your own greed. I told you that some day, if I saw you doing the right thing without any thought for yourself, you would get your license back." He closed his eyes and chuckled. "And here you are, putting your life on the line with these people for Prima. You've done what I wished, beyond my wildest dreams. Gobi... go out there and make me... make all of our Clan proud. Here..." He pulled a thin card made of gold out of his pocket and handed it to Gobi. "You've earned this. Now, I just have one more task for you." He grabbed Gobi's shoulders roughly. "Don't die out there, Gobi. Come back to Prima alive."

"Yes, sir!" Gobi saluted with his pike, smiling like a rising sun. He turned to Ryu. "What are we waiting for, Ry... boss? Let's get out there and settle the score with Admiral Cean!" Trout was waiting, already a Great Fish. The seven heroes climbed onto his back, and he departed. Ten miles east of the city, they stopped and waited. Several minutes passed, and nobody spoke. And then, three more Great Fish swam out to meet them.

"The enemy! They're approaching fast!" One yelled.

"WHAT?" Ryu screamed.

"The torpedo!" Ox cursed, eyes grim. "They've finished it! Deis, where's that egg beast of yours!" Deis was staring in the direction of the volcano.

"Any minute now... any minute..."

"It's too late!" Karn groaned. The remaining ships were now visible, quickly growing larger. However, something was wrong. There were only five of them. And there was something behind them. Something huge, tall, and moving fast.  
"What... is that?" Ryu whispered in awe. It was a waterspout, hundreds of feet wide, bearing down on the remaing ships. Deis slowly smiled.

"That, my friend... would be our little eggy-weggy."

"They're running from it!" Gobi whooped in realization. "The torpedo's not done at all! They're running away!"

"But they won't make it." Ryu's teeth were bared fiercely. "Look." The typhoon created by the egg beast had already caught one of the ships. It was instantly obliterated, chunks of wood flying everywhere. On the deck of the lead ship, a figure in silver armor was ranting and screaming insanely.

"WHERE ARE YOU!" Admiral Cean howled at the unresponding oceans. "RYU, COME OUT AND FIGHT!"  
"Admiral Cean, we can't stop that thing!" A soldier urged him. "Our ships are lost! There's nothing we can do! We've divided up all the Gills we stole among the remaining men!" The Dark Dragon Admiral whirled on him, face a mask of fury. For a moment, it looked as if he would kill the soldier, but then he screamed again.

"ALL MEN, OVERBOARD!" The soldiers hastily complied, jumping into the ocean. Cean was last to go, casting one last look at the nearly completed torpedo on the deck before plunging with an insane snarl on his face.

"They're diving!" Ox yelled. "Here it comes!"  
"Damn... there's still about four hundred!" Ryu cursed. "I don't know if the Maniros can match that many!"

"They'll have to." Karn scanned the huge mass of soldiers descending through the water, and quickly found his target. "There! Looks like Cean's making a beeline for us, too!"

"Put us down, Trout." Ryu ordered, strangely calm. Trout quickly complied, then swam off to join the rest of his kind. Admiral Cean was the first to land on the ocean floor. His men quickly followed, standing behind him as the Dark Dragon officer smiled darkly at Ryu.

"First you steal our Goddess Keys. Then you stop our activities in the Wing and Forest Clan lands, as well as Auria. THEN you destroy my castle. Now, you sink my navy! These four hundred are all I have left! All that's left of twenty-five thousand men that were meant to bring the land of the east to their KNEES!" He was shrieking by now. "You think you're pretty smart, don't you!"

"Apparently, smart enough to deal with you... sir." Ryu smiled mockingly. The Admiral's eyes flashed with hatred.

"You've destroyed everything I have... but now you'll pay! And after you, Prima will fall! CHARGE!" As the soldiers rushed forward, Cean began glowing. Unlike the officers before him, however, seperate beams of golden light were emitted from the glow.

"What is he...?" Nina started to ask, then regretted it. The Dark Dragon Admiral was growing... and growing... and still growing. His hands became massive pincers, his legs split into six spindly appendages, his skin became a rock-hard red shell. His eyes were huge, green and on stalks. The horrendous crab, bigger than a house, blew a bubble from its mouth and charged. The group scattered like bowling pins.

"What's wrong, Ryu?" Nina yelled. "Transform!"

"I'm trying!" Ryu yelled back, thinking hard. _Fire will be nearly useless underwater... Ice will just freeze the water solid unless I'm right in his face... and Thunder would kill everybody! None of them work! _"I can't!" He screamed, and threw his new boomerang, hard. The flying weapon smacked into both of Cean's eyes and returned to his hand. The crab just blinked, then laughed.

"Is that all? HA!" Moving towards him with surprising speed, it sent him flying through the water like a skeet with one flick of its right claw. Yelling, Bo, Ox, Gobi and Karn attacked him from the sides and back, shooting, ripping, tearing and smashing. Cean's shell cracked, but did not open, and one by one he flicked them away too. "Well, it's about time I really used these, methinks..." He clacked his claws in glee.

"I don't think so, big man!" Deis yelled, raising her staff. On her command, the very ocean floor began shaking, and a massive chunk of earth thrust itself upwards into Cean. The monstrous crab was flipped, exposing his lesser-armored blue underside. The group instantly moved in, hacking at it, and they got in several good hits before Cean righted himself and they had to retreat from the deadly pincers. Despite his wounds, Cean moved as if nothing was wrong, actually hopping around.

"Come on, you fools! I'll rip you all to shreds, then destroy Prima!" Growling, Deis tried the earth spell again, but as soon as he felt the rumbling, Cean charged straight at her. The sorceress was forced to dive out of the way to avoid being decapitated by a claw, and the pillar of ground only hit the enemy glancingly.

"Try this on for size, you overgrown bug!" Gobi hovered in the water as a swarm of tiny green fish flew towards Cean and covered him. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to work either; the crab just laughed and swatted them off.

"Is this truly all you can do? What a waste!" Cean demanded. "Here I thought you were some Light Dragon monster, and you're just an idiot who got damn lucky!" Ryu growled and hit his eyes with the boomerang again, slightly blackening them. "AH! You wretched little..." Cean advanced, claws at the ready, then spun as more arrow, hammer and dagger wounds appeared on his shell. "You stupid little pests!"

"We may be little, but there's a lot of us, big man." Deis taunted. "Try this on for size!" There was a huge noise as the very air around Cean exploded, flipping the crustacean again and sending him skidding across the ocean floor to crash into a boulder. Again, the heroes descended with their weapons, and again they did little, even to his weakened underside; he kept struggling as though the deep wounds were nonexistant.

"Phew!" Nina commented as she ran her rapier deep into the crab's guts. "What's he MADE of? We've all got max powerups on us... ACK!" All the heroes went flying again as Cean staggered back to his feet. He started to attack them, then thought better of it.

"No... why attack you? Instead... I shall destroy that which you protect!" Cackling with horrible glee, he began blasting towards Prima, running backwards. Unlike a real crab, his legs were spaced evenly around his entire body, allowing him to move in any direction. The heroes chased, but were repelled from getting too close by his snapping claws. "Ha ha! I'll bring the entire city down on your heads by myself!"

"Do something, Deis!" Bo yelled, trying to fire. Cean's quick claws, however, stopped the arrows easily.

"I can't!" Deis yelled back. "He's moving too fast for me to peg him with earth or explosion spells, and the others won't work underwater!"

"Then maybe it's time for some magic that will." Gobi gritted through his teeth. Everybody stared at him as he watched Cean's advance. The other Maniros were too busy fending off the Dark Dragons to notice. One Maniro, however, had definately noticed Cean. His eyes shone with pure hatred. "You... you're responsible for it all. Everything all my friends have gone through... everything I've gone through... and now, you still want to destroy the only place I've ever called home? The only place that ever gave me a second chance!" Calling forth his Water Magic, much more powerfully than with Morteo, the fat merchant was joined by a school of angry grey dolphins. Cean snapped at them feebly, but it was no use; the school covered him, ripping at his armor with sharp-toothed mouths and tearing it off piece by piece. Within seconds, the Admiral was defenseless. Screaming, Gobi ran his pike into the unprotected crustacean's flesh over and over. The claws raked him, opening horrible wounds, but he still kept going, and the others joined him. Within minutes, Admiral Cean was nothing but a pile of crabsmeat. One eye still glimmered.

"What... what do you plan to do... Light Dragon Ryu, what do you... do to this world..." Ryu held out his hand wordlessly, and Gobi gave him his pike. The Light Dragon raised it high.

"I'm going to wipe you out... you, and all your ilk, until none remain." The pike decended, and Admiral Cean's eye flickered out. Ryu and his friends looked around wearily. The fighting was done; Cean had been the last to fall. High Merchant Gartes approached, and Ryu saluted him slowly. "Any enemy survivors, my lord?"

"One." Gartes confirmed. "A magician who surrendered."

"Good." Ryu smiled, to the surprise of all. "We're going to need a messenger."

"You won't need anything..." A pain-filled voice gasped. Somehow, Cean was still alive. "I'm dead... but I'll take you to hell... with me!" He began glowing with white light. Ryu's eyes widened.

"Everybody! SCATTER!" The heroes and Maniros ran in all directions only moments before Cean exploded in a massive fireball, scattering crab chunks everywhere. Deis snapped her fingers even as she felt her head hit something hard and everything went dark.

"THAT's how you do that spell..."

"Ah, you're awake." High Merchant Gartes greeted Ryu as he opened his eyes. The Light Dragon slowly looked around. He was in a bed back in Prima.

"Is everybody... okay?"

"They'll all live." Gartes assured him. "Although you all-and Prima-would have been toast if that explosion was any closer."

"We got him... that's what counts." Ryu sighed heavily, smiling. "I take it the rest of the battle went well?"

"You'll never believe it." Gartes shook his head. "At first, it was going bad; they had us outnumbered, and they were trained soldiers. Then, from behind us comes a fleet of merchant ships from Auria, packed to the gills with human, Forest and Wing Clan soldiers! Great Ladon, I'd never seen anything like it! The enemy were completely slaughtered!"

"Sorry I missed it." Ryu cracked a grin. "Are they still here?"

"Oh, yes." Gartes smiled. "As a matter of fact, I have some friends who will want to see you once they hear you're awake." The friends, as he put it, were King Firdan from Camlon, General Cornus from Winlan, Terry from Tantar, Captain Zenny Gata from Auria, Trout from Prima, and to Ryu's delighted surprise, Captain Role. All of them were pleased to see Ryu, though surprised at his injuries.

"My friend, you look like you went into a butcher shop wearing horns!" Captain Role exclaimed. Ryu winked at him.

"The other guy looks like the leftovers from a banquet serving a hundred fat Maniros-no offense, Trout-so I think I came out ahead. What about you? We all thought you were fishbait."

"I never told you I was the champion swimmer in the entire East." Role grinned. "Learned it from the Maniros... somehow, I made it back to Auria alive."

"I'm glad." Ryu smiled. "I thought you were a goner." He inclined his head towards General Cornus. "Fortunately, Nina should be far less wounded than I am."

"Yes, I've visited her already. She regained consciousness before you did and promptly fainted again when she heard you were still out." Cornus smiled. "Thank you for keeping her alive, Ryu."

"From the stories Bo's been telling me, it was the other way around more often than not, Cornus." Terry joked. Zenny Gata laughed.

"I think none of them would have made it this far without the others, my good men. This group seem to be charmed by Ladon himself. Elder Khel was having nightmares that Karn would wash up ashore dead long ago, but he's still going strong, and we have you and your friends to thank, Ryu."

"We all owe them tremendously." Trout smiled. "Do you think you will be well enough to get out of bed soon? All the rest of the rulers came too. Once Elder Minos from Gant arrives, they're going to be holding a conference, and I think they'd all like you and your friends to be there as well."

"Give me a day or two more of sleep, and I should be able to move." Ryu smiled wanly. "I heal fast. Are the others all up?"

"Gobi's still out, but we think he'll be fine." Role assured him quickly. "If we need to, we can carry his bed into the meeting room."

"Let's leave him be for now." King Firdan spoke up. "If he says he needs sleep, let him."

"His majesty has a point." Cornus agreed. "Come on, let's go." They left, and Ryu sank back into peaceful darkness.

Three days later, the meeting that history would remember as the Council of the East took place. Two Kings, two Chiefs, three Elders, two High Merchants and seven advisors were cloistered in Prima's biggest meeting room, guarded by twenty brawny Builder Clanners. Gobi, contary to expectations, had managed to make it to the room by himself, although he winced with every step. By general agreement, since the building was his, High Merchant Gartes presided.

"First things first." He started off once the tedious formalities had been gotten out of the way. "Are we certain that all Dark Dragon presence is gone from the lands of the east?"

"Not a single enemy soldier has set foot upon our lands since they were beaten back at Prima." High Merchant Ross assured him. "With the complete destruction of their eastern navy, it is certain that they are gone from our lands... at least for now."

"For now." Elder Khel repeated grimly. "That was twenty-five thousand, all told, that Zog had sent to conquer us. Unfortunately, our intelligence indicates that was only half of the Dark Dragons' total army."

"You CAN'T be SERIOUS!" Chief Bart expostulated. "Half!"

"I'm afraid so." Khel shook his head. "Ten thousand are kept in the city of Scande. The remaining fifteen thousand are distributed throughout the Lands of the West, which, as we all know, have unfortunately been Dark Dragon territory for quite some time now. Those lands are mostly human; that is where they get most of their recruits from."

"What about the Mole Clan?" Chief Lupin asked. "Their lands are Dark Dragon territory..." Khel shook his head.

"They refused to join the army when first conquered, and ever since they've been slaves."

"Figures." King Gwyn snorted. "Emperor Zog has no patience with those who defy him. Believe me, I know."

"Still, twenty-five thousand more that they can bring against us..." Elder Minos shook his head. "That's far too many. Even united as we are, we can't stand against that. We only survived this assault because of these brave heroes." The leaders all looked at each other, then sighed.

"So, we are agreed." Elder Khan spoke for them all.

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked. He blinked; all the leaders were looking at him.

"Ryu." King Firdan shook his head. "I'm sorry, but... we have to ask you to continue your task. As it stands, you and your friends are our only hope."

"We were planning on going on anyways, sirs." Bo smiled. "Ryu has sworn to end the Dark Dragon threat forever, and we are all sworn to follow him."

"Then it is settled." Gartes thumped his fist on the table. "We will do everything in our power to aid you. And after you leave, we will unite our peoples and try to hold back the Dark Dragons until you do your job." He thought for a moment. "There's also the matter of the Goddess Keys to consider. Intelligence says they only have one right now... and you have four, correct?" Ryu nodded and held up the four Keys for them to see. The leaders stared in wonder. Deis nodded, looking grimmer than any of them had seen her before.

"Yup... those are the Earth, King, Light and Dark Keys, all right." She growled. "Don't get too thrilled, gentlemen... those things were SUPPOSED to never have come back out into the world again. Does anybody have a map of the world?"

"Here you are." High Merchant Ross handed her one. Deis bent over it for a moment with a quill and ink, then held it up for everybody to see. There were three Xs marked on there.

"All right, gentlemen, this is where we hid them thousands of years ago. I didn't bother marking the four we already have. First is the Time Key; that one is on the Island of Tunlan."

"I've never heard of it." Ryu confessed. Most of the others were shaking their heads as well.

"I'm not surprised." Gobi explained. "Tunlan is almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. The people there are technically humans, but their entire culture is different from everybody else's. They don't even speak the same language as we do, which makes going there problematic."  
"Yeah, I'll bet." Ryu shook his head. "That's a problem. How are we going to get that Key, then?" Elder Khel stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Rumor has it that there's an artifact known as the Magic Hood that, when worn, translates the language of Tunlan. As for speaking back, the language is musical in nature; it doesn't require words. Anybody with the hood, an instrument of quality, and even passing skill in music should be able to speak it."

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Deis continued impatiently. "The next Key is the Sky Key, which is hidden in the tower of Spyre, near the town of Spring in the far east."

"Might that be the one the Dark Dragons already have?" Chief Lupin asked. Deis shrugged.

"Possibly. I doubt they have the Time Key, so it's either that one or the Queen Key." The third X was right on Scande, the Dark Dragon Capital. "We left that one buried inside Obelisk, Myria's own flying fortress. With the Mole Clan working for them, the Dark Dragons might very well have dug it out."

"So where do we start?" Nina asked. High Merchant Gartes pointed out a town in the northeast, which was actually only seperated from Camlon by a huge mountain range.

"This is the town of Gust. I'm sorry, but it's the only place we can set you ashore without being spotted by Dark Dragon ships."

"We'll manage, my Lord." Ryu assured him. "We have so far. Oh, has anything been done about that Dark Dragon prisoner yet?"

"No, not really." Gartes shook his head. "We don't really have a use for him, so he's just been cooling his heels in the cell. Why? Do you have an idea?"

"I do, indeed." Ryu nodded. "But we can get to that later. Back to our enemies... what do we know about the Tiamat Unit? Now that we've killed Admiral Cean, I think they'll be coming for us themselves."

"The Tiamat Unit... Blue Alchemist Cort, Red Dreammaster Mote, White Asassin Cerl, Black Warrior Goda and Gold Lord Jade..." Elder Khel thought for a moment. "They are, as you know, second only to Emperor Zog himself in command. Jade is their leader and seemingly the strongest, though I have yet to see a report on his full power. As for the others... Cort is an apparent human, male and in his midthirties. He is tall, thin, bald and wears a ruby monocle. His skin was somehow turned deep blue; there is no knowledge as to how that occured. He is the world's foremost scientest, an absolute genius but devoid of any scruples whatsoever. He experiments freely on intelligent species without a care for their lives. His speech is urbane and civilized, but don't be fooled; his mind is really as cold and sharp as a surgeon's knives."

"Pleasant guy." Nina muttered. "No wonder he hung out with Manson."

"Mote, on the other hand, is a very small, short person who always wears a hooded purple cloak to disguise himself." Khel continued. "Rumors have it that his skin is blood-red from occasional sightings of his hands. He is said to be cruel and sadistic, enjoying the pain and suffering of others; as his title suggests, he is a master of the mental arts, and can manipulate your dreams like a fine-tuned harp."

"So I should wear my tin hat." Gobi joked. The others glared at him, but Khel continued as if he had not been aware of the interruption.

"Cerl is the only female of the Tiamat Unit, and by the looks of it, the only one with actual Dark Dragon blood aside from Jade; apparently, though, her mother was from another Clan. Not sure which one. Her father was a Dark Dragon General; after his death she took his place and soon impressed Lord Jade, gaining a place in the Tiamat Unit when it was formed. She is stealthy and cunning, can enter a room full of hundreds and kill them all one by one without even being noticed, and possesses a marked talent for lying and persuasion of victims."

"I can vouch for that." Ross remarked angrily.

"This is only a rumor, but..." Khel frowned. "She may just be the most skilled at the art of Transformation of them all. All of the Tiamat Unit have horrendous alternate forms, worse than even Admiral Cean, but if this rumor is true, Cerl was the one who taught them." He paused for a moment. "Goda, then, is a gigantic brute of a man... bigger even than you, Ox. Bald with blood-red skin like Mote, he is supposed to be an unrepentant savage who kills swiftly and without mercy using any weapon in existence; a sword, a bow, a spear, a knife, even his bare hands. He's a master with them all. Some people say he has a different side to him, but they're usually laughed at; his killings are famous for their brutality."

"And Jade?" Ryu asked fiercely. Khel coughed.

"Jade... a full Dark Dragon, he was apparently a childhood friend of Emperor-then, Prince-Zog, and his closest advisor from the moment the throne was passed on. He's a tall man with long blonde hair and pale skin. Supposed to be handsome, looks like a real ladykiller, but he has no interest in women... as a matter of fact, he doesn't have much interest in anything. They call him the man of ice." He shrugged. "Sorry we don't know more about them."

"That's all right." Ryu assured him. "We know all we need. We'll be ready."

"Does anybody else have anything to bring up?" High Merchant Gartes asked. There was nothing. "Very well, meeting adjourned. Now then, about that prisoner, Ryu..."

Only a few days after the Council of the East took place, another council was held, in a far different place. Emperor Zog's audience chamber was constructed like a stadium; circular, with seats in rising tiers all around it. The foremost seats were for Generals and Captains; Knights sat towards the back. At the back of the room, facing the entryway, was a huge blue-black stone throne, covered with precious gems. Placed at equal intervals around the circle from it were five smaller thrones, each one a different color; blue, red, white, black, gold. These were empty at the moment, but the largest was not. The Emperor of the Dark Dragons was an imposing sight; a huge man clad in armor that encased him from head to toe. Made of craggy obsidian and silver, with fearsome spikes rising from the shoulders and helmet, the effect made him look as if he was wearing some black dragon's rocklike hide. The man's face was the only part of him that was uncovered. It was not a handsome face, though it might have been once. Now, arrogance, pride and self-glorification were etched upon every inch of it. Unlike most Dark Dragons, his hair and beard were dyed a flaming red. Most people preferred looking into the false eyes of his helmet when addressing him, for his natural gaze teemed with madness. At the moment, however, he was placid, sitting absolutely still on his throne and waiting for some unseen cue. The doors banged upon without warning, and his head shot up. All of the officers in the room promptly stood and saluted.

"Hail, Gold Lord!" They shouted. Jade smiled sardonically as he entered. Walking to the center of the room, he dropped to his knee and bowed.

"Hail, Emperor Zog."

"Rise, my old friend." Zog told him. "You have always been my most faithful servant, Jade."

"I live but to serve, Emperor." Jade stood up and, in a single motion, backflipped into the gold throne above the entryway. "The survivor will be along any moment now."

"And the rest of the Tiamat Unit?" Zog inquired. Jade just smiled and inclined his head. The Emperor smiled back in understanding and resumed his statuelike calm. The lesser officers began whispering among themselves, but neither the Emperor nor the Gold Lord made any moves until the doors opened again. Two Dark Dragon soldiers entered, with a third between them. This third was dropped unceremoniously on the floor, and the other two saluted.

"You may leave." Zog told them. They quickly did so, with such speed that one might almost suspect they didn't want to see what was going to happen. "Now, then. Tiamat Unit, take your seats so we may begin."

"As you command, my Emperor." Four voices said simultaneously. The lesser officers jumped in surprise. There was a bubbling on the floor in front of the blue throne, and Cort seemed to rise out of it as if it were water and not stone. The red throne hissed and emitted a cloud of black gas, which congealed into a small blob of absolute darkness before solidifying into Mote. From the ceiling of the room, there was a blur of motion, and Cerl was suddenly standing before the white throne. The air around the black throne shimmered, and where there was nothing before, Goda appeared instantaneously. All four took their seats. Then, there was a sudden flash of light, and a fifth figure, clad entirely in grey robes that covered its entire body, stood next to Jade.

"Quite good on the dramatic entrances." Jade smirked. "Although our Emperor might make you clean up the floor, Blue."

"No, it's nothing." Emperor Zog waved a hand dismissively. "I see your newest member has elected to join us?"

"Indeed." Jade smiled at the grey-robed figure. "Sorry we don't have a throne in here for you yet, Silver. Why don't you take Admiral Cean's seat? He won't be needing it." The apparent newcomer to the Tiamat Unit wordlessly walked over and took the indicated seat, ignoring a few angry whispers from the lesser officers.

"Now, then. To business." Zog leaned forward, and the lone soldier left in the center of the room trembled. "State name, rank and last mission."

"S... soldier Ernest, grunt-level mage, yo... your majesty. Last... the conquering of Pri... Prima..."

"And why are you back here?" Zog asked him calmly. "Prima has not yet been conquered, has it?"

"We... we lost, Emperor!" The soldier wailed. "They... they butchered us!"

"You don't look butchered, old boy." Cort smiled friendlily. "A bit waterlogged, perhaps, but that's to be expected, considering where you've been, eh?"

"What Blue means is, how come you didn't get killed with everybody else?" Goda growled, showing his teeth. "You seem to have been the only survivor, soldier Ernest. As a matter of fact, you were delivered near here by a Great Fish. Why is that?"

"The... the enemy..." The soldier blubbered. "They... made me take a message... said it was for... for my Emperor and the Tiamat Unit..."

"A message, you say." Mote whispered from the depths of his hood. "An interesting message, probably. Shall we take a look, my Emperor?"

"We shall, Red Dreammaster." Zog agreed. "Soldier, play the message." Ernest stared at him, terror-stricken.

"Majesty, I cannot-"

"Don't be foolish, soldier." Cerl interrupted him. "We all know you had no choice in the matter. The contents of the message will not affect your fate whatsoever. However, I would not advise defying Emperor Zog a second time." She raised an eyebrow meaningfully.

"Y... yes, your highness!" Gulping, the soldier concentrated. In the air above his head, an image appeared. It was the battlefield before Prima. Slowly, the image panned back and forth, taking in hundreds of dead Dark Dragon soldiers. Angry muttering began filling the room from the lesser officers. The image stopped on a huge, carved-out crab's shell. Streaks of blood still coated the inside of it. The muttering doubled as they recognized Admiral Cean's remains. A single man walked out in front of the shell. He was young, about eighteen, but strongly built. His hair was blue and shoulder-length. In one hand, he carried a boomerang; in the other, a sword.

"Twenty-five thousand men." He spoke emotionlessly. "Twenty-five thousand were sent here for the purpose of conquering the East, the half of the world you do not control. And now, each and every one of them is dead. Nabal is completely destroyed, the great Admiral Cean is slain, and you have no presence here." One by one, others began walking into the image and standing next to him.

"Your plot to kill my father failed." Nina said.

"Your armies in my forest were completely obliterated." Bo informed them.

"Your attempts to gain the Light and Dark Keys by blackmail were repulsed." Karn sneered.

"Your torpedo that you planned to use on my city is now dust." Gobi grinned.

"All of your control over my people has been erased." Ox scowled.

"Face it. We've been kicking your asses on all accounts." Deis summarized. Ryu nodded.

"And, most importantly..." He held up his hand. Four Keys were extended from it like fingers. "We have four of the Goddess Keys. Swiped them right out from under your noses, and blew up said noses afterwards." He exaggeratedly dropped the Keys, one by one, into a pouch. "I know you want them. You know you want them. But it's not that easy. You're going to have to take them from us. And don't bother sending any more schmoes after us. You want to even pose a challenge for us, you know who to call in." He grinned mockingly. "If you guys have the balls to come meet us yourselves, that is. We're not satisfied with simply freeing our homelands, see. We're coming onto YOUR turf now. You've got the home territory advantage; I suggest you use it. And start taking us seriously; otherwise, we'll get the other Goddess Keys first too." All seven of them were smiling now, as they drew their weapons and saluted. "Hail, Emperor Zog. Hail, Tiamat Unit. Hail, all of the stinking Dark Dragon empire. This is your warning. We're coming for you."

The image disappeared, its message played. The lesser officers were now staring in shocked disbelief. But the Tiamat Unit were an entirely different matter. Cort adjusted his monocle and gave a thumbs-up. Mote's smile shone with red light from the darkness of his hood. Cerl's lips twisted slightly upwards in approval. Goda's teeth were bared in a fierce grin. And from the last two... came clapping. Slow, deliberate clapping as Jade and "Silver" stood up.

"Wonderful. Absolutely splendid, Ryu the Light Dragon." The Gold Lord declared.

"You approve of such insolence?" Emperor Zog demanded. He was not smiling. Not even close. Jade nodded.

"What is the fun of world domination if it is all easy, my Emperor? I think these ones will be a challenge worthy of the Dark Dragon Empire... worthy of the Tiamat Unit, I should say."

"Not neccessary... not even close, your highness!" One of the Generals blurted. "This man is obviously insane. We can take care of him without the Tiamat Unit's aid."

"Perhaps you missed seeing Admiral Cean's totalled corpse, General Zurm." Mote sneered. "If they killed him, none of you have a chance."

"I don't know how they took down Cean, and I don't care." Another General spat. "Obviously by some sneaky, underhanded trick. Once we pin them down, they'll squash like the bugs they are. Another twenty-five thousand will turn the trick!"

"Did you pay attention to a single thing that's been going on here, General Pess?" Cerl yawned, annoyed. "The first twenty-five thousand all died, and it's certain that the lands of the East are twice as unified against us now. If you want to commit suicide, you can just go swimming outside Scande." Another General glared at her contemptuously.

"We don't need your opinion on a millitary matter, you rankless bi-"

"Choose your next word carefully, General Targ." Goda rumbled. The offending General gasped as he realized the Black Warrior's fist was clenched around his neck. "I can pop your head off like a berry from a bush." The other generals started to rise, then stopped. The rest of the Tiamat Unit had also risen.

"It seems we have a little discipline problem, ah, friends?" Cort winked. "You seem to have forgotten something. True, we have no millitary rank. That is because we TRANSCEND rank. We are the Tiamat Unit of the Dark Dragon Empire. The five-headed dragon from Hell itself... well, I should say six-headed now. Sorry, Silver." The grey-robed figure nodded. "We have no past... we have no future. And that is not a position gained by having a tough father..." Mote fixed his hood on General Zurm. "...or by having a lot of money for bribes..." Cerl made a beckoning motion towards General Pess. "...or by surviving a war through cowardice." His gaze rested on General Targ, who Goda released. "Isn't that right, Lord Jade?"

"Indeed it is, Blue." Jade nodded. "With your permission, my Emperor, the Tiamat Unit would like to handle this matter personally from this point onward."

"Of course, Gold Lord." Zog nodded firmly. "I am glad to heed the advice of my most trusted advisor. If any officer would like to disagree with MY decison, let him speak now." His mad eyes swept around the room, but now there was not even a squeak of objection. "Good. Now, as for the matter of your fate, soldier Ernest..." The soldier fell to his knees.

"Your Majesty, let me live, I beg you!"

"I say, old boy, no reason for that." Cort jumped down to the floor and pulled the man to his feet. "Don't embarrass yourself, eh? I'll tell you what. I think I'll take the first crack at these enemy fellows. Of course, I'll be setting up a new lab where I think they'll be entering my territory. You can come along and be one of my lab assistants. How's that sound?" The soldier stared at him for a moment, then fell on his knees.

"Thank you... thank you, your highness!"

"That is, if Emperor Zog doesn't mind?" Cort looked directly at the Emperor and winked. Zog smiled.

"Not at all, my faithful Blue Alchemist. Take him with my blessing." His gaze swept around the room. "From now on, the Tiamat Unit's orders are to be obeyed without question. Any lesser Officer who defies them defies me, and I will deal with them personally. Am I understood?" The officers nodded. "Good. You are all dismissed." Five of the Tiamat Unit bowed, then disappeared the way they came. The lesser Officers followed suit, shuffling out, until only Jade and Zog remained. Sighing, Zog removed his helmet.

"You begin to go bald, old friend." Jade noticed. Zog laughed.

"The price of growing old, my friend. You seem to not be as affected... you could pass for a man in his twenties."

"I don't have to deal with the stresses of rulership." Jade reminded him. "Uneasy lies the crown and all that."

"Yes, but it's worth it." Zog grinned darkly. "It is only a matter of time before the entire world bows to the Dragon Clan once more. We may not even need the Goddess Myria after all." Jade shrugged.

"Who can say, my lord? We must continue looking for the Keys, regardless."

"Yes, about those." Zog remembered. "Have you found any leads on the remaining two?"

"Yes. One is in Tunlan. I'm dispatching White there soon." Jade reported. "Nothing on the last, but it's only a matter of time... either we'll find it, or Ryu will."

"And, of course, once we kill HIM we get all his Keys." Zog chuckled. "An interesting Light Dragon, worthy of his clan, but nothing to us."

"Yes, of course." Jade echoed. "I should be going, old friend. I need to talk with the others-Blue, in particular-about our plans."

"Isn't that always the way." Zog sighed. "Very well. You're dismissed, old friend." Jade saluted and walked out. As he continued down a hall, the rest of the Tiamat Unit appeared around him.

"Hey, guys." Jade smiled. "What's up?"

"Well..." Cerl shrugged. "What do you honestly think of this, Lord Jade? We seem to be disagreeing. This is IT, isn't it? What we've been waiting for for ten years."

"I'm concerned, boss." Goda admitted. "These guys might be trouble... a LOT of trouble. And depite what we know is going to happen sooner or later... I don't know, I just can't get my mind around the concept."

"Well, it IS the Light Dragons, old boy." Cort reminded him. "We knew this was going to happen. Still, it's not Jade's time yet. I can handle my own fate quite adequately." Mote nodded in agreement.

"At first I thought maybe Admiral Cean was faking most of it to distract us while he made his play for power. But there's no arguing with his corpse, so this is real. It's finally time." There was a pause, and then "Silver" spoke for the first time.

"I've only known all this for a short amount of time... but you've all been planning for this for ten years... more in your case, Lord Jade. But... I know Ryu. If he's gotten this far... he'll go the rest of the way."

"She's right. We don't need to worry." Jade assured them all. "We knew this would happen... we're all ready. Remember our motto? We're the best of the best. We've got this covered."

"Yes, sir!" All five saluted. Jade smiled.

"That's the Tiamat Unit I know. Remember, keep our real objective in mind at all times. You're up first, my faithful Blue Alchemist. Don't let me down." They nodded and departed, and Jade walked on, musing to himself some more.

"Hm... this confirms it. They're right... you are indeed the Light Dragon I've been waiting for, Ryu... nobody else could get this far. But now the danger to your life shall increase a hundredfold. Will you still follow the path that had been set? What will you do now, Ryu..."

"Ryu, are you in here?" Nina asked, knocking on his door at the inn.

"Yeah." He grunted. "Come on in." The Wing Clan girl pushed the door open to see him sitting on his bed, looking morose.

"Something up?" She asked, flying over. He shrugged.

"It's nothing."  
"You've stunk at lying ever since we met back in Winlan." She reminded him. "What is it?" Ryu sighed.

"Well... it's just that I think I may have opened my mouth more than I can handle." He admitted.

"You mean with that message you sent to Scande?" Nina asked. The Light Dragon nodded.

"Yeah. I don't know if I can handle what's coming..."

"Why not?" She sat down on the bed next to him. "You've done great leading us so far..."

"Not lately." He shook his head. "For a while now... these Whelp transformations have been measuring up less and less. Suish would have killed me if you guys hadn't bailed me out... same with Myst. And I couldn't even transform against Cean... what'll happen when we go up against the Tiamat Unit?" He was unprepared for Nina's reaction; she giggled and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Forgot already? We already know where the next Dragon Shrine is! Heck, Ox can probably take us there tomorrow if you want!"

"Oh, DUH!" Ryu hit himself in the face. "Can't believe I forgot that. Thanks, Nina!"

"No problem." She smiled evilly. "Before that, though, I think it's about time we had that talk about those lucky hunches of yours..."

"Uh, yeah, about those..." Ryu laughed weakly, frantically trying to think of a way out. Fortunately, he was saved by another knock on the door.

"Yoo-hoo! Coming in!" Deis pushed the door open. She took in the situation at a glance and raised her eyebrows. "Well, now. Am I interrupting something here? I'm still new to this group, so I'm not sure how the relationships go..." Nina turned bright red.

"No! Not even close!"

"Good." Deis grinned. "Then I've still got a shot at him." She laughed at both of their faces. "But that's for later. Come on, we're having a group meeting in the Temple of Ladon." Turning, she left. Nina shot Ryu a glance.

"Might as well." He shrugged innocently. "We can talk afterwards."

"Oh, you bet we will..." She growled as she flew out with the Light Dragon in tow. The others were all waiting in the lobby.

"What were they doing?" Bo asked the sorceress, who smirked.

"Nothing... that I could see, anyways."

"Quit." Ryu grumbled. "Let's go, then." As they crossed the streets of Prima, they ran into High Merchant Gartes.

"Ah, Gobi. I was just coming to talk to you." He greeted them. Gobi stepped forward, a bit hesitantly.

"What's up, boss?"

"You're... you're not going to stick around Prima, are you?" Gartes asked. Gobi shook his head.

"Afraid not, boss. I'm going with these guys." He grinned cheekily. "Ryu still owes me money, you see..."

"Oh, come on." Karn elbowed him jokingly. "Tell us the truth! You just like hanging out with us!"

"Nooooooo!" Gobi howled in mock-horror. "I want my money!" Gartes sighed.

"Whatever your reasons are, I should give you this now." He handed the fat merchant a glowing, green crystal sphere. Gobi stared at it.

"Boss, you..."

"I gave you your license back, didn't I?" Gartes reminded him. "You've earned that too, Gobi. Use it well!"  
"Is that the thing that'll let you turn into a Great Fish?" Ryu asked. Gobi nodded.

"Yeah, this is it! Whoo! Come on, let's get to the Temple! We all have to work hard so you can pay me back!" He marched off ahead of them.

"Talk about a one track mind..." Karn muttered. Gobi spun around instantly.

"What was that? I didn't hear you..." Karn just groaned.

"Never mind!" Fortunately, the Temple of Ladon was nearby, and they made it without incident. All of them, even Gobi, bent down and offered silent prayer first thing upon entering. Deis was the first to finish.

"All right, people, down to business." She waited until they were all watching her. "Now, as you all know, sometimes when we're in really tight spots, our boss, Ryu, suddenly has suspicious hunches that turn out to be exactly what we need. And you're all wondering where he gets his information from, and why he doesn't tell us." The others nodded. "Well, there's somebody here who can explain everything. That's why we're meeting here, of all places."

"I was wondering about that." Bo admitted. "So, who's this mysterious man who knows everything? It's not Uncle Specs again, is it?" He added as an afterthought, looking worried. Deis laughed.

"No, it's not. It's this guy right here." She indicated the Statue of Ladon. Everybody stared at it, then at her.

"Ah, Deis..." Karn said tactfully. "Did you... hit your head or somethIIIIII!" He jumped ten feet into the air as the statue began moving. Like in Ryu's dreams, it transformed into a hazy, ethereal old reptile wearing green robes. This time, though, he was awake, and he wasn't the only one seeing it. They all were.

"Great Ladon..." Nina whispered. The Dragon God inclined his head towards her.

"That's my name, princess."

"What was IN that painkiller they gave me?" Gobi muttered to himself. Ladon smiled at him.

"Oh, come on, Gobi. This isn't the first time I've appeared to you."

"It's not?" Karn demanded of the fat Maniro. Gobi slowly shook his head.

"No... there was one time... but I thought I was just hallucinating."

"You were not." Ladon assured him. "I've been appearing in Ryu's dreams for quite some time now to give him advice. And of course, Deis and I know each other from long ago."

"So why show yourself to the rest of us now?" Bo asked. "I know I'VE just lost a few years off my life." The others nodded fervently, and Ladon laughed.

"Why now? Well, I'd have to sooner or later... Ryu's not the only important one, you know. Each and every one of you was destined to accompany and aid him since before your ancestors in the War of the Dragons were born. If even one of you dies, the world is lost. Remember that."

"We'll do everything in our power to remain as not dead as possible, sir." Karn deadpanned. Ladon laughed again.

"There you go." He grew grim. "But why right now? I decided it was time to show you all the truth... since from this point on, your enemies will ALSO have been destined."

"The Tiamat Unit." Ryu stated, and Ladon nodded.

"Exactly. Their paths were decided long ago, even as yours were. Be careful, all of you; what you've gone through so far is nothing compared to what lies ahead for you. Most importantly, Ryu, there's someplace you have to stop by as soon as possible."

"The Builder's Cape." Ryu agreed. "I know. Ox knows exactly where it is; we're going tomorrow." Ladon nodded approvingly.

"Good. I think that's everything. From now on, any time any of you wish to talk with me, just come into a Temple when there's no innocent bystanders around. I'll see you at the Shrine, Ryu." Stepping back onto his pedestal, he waved and returned to stone. Ox let out a huge breath he had been holding with a whoosh.

"Now THAT... was different. I don't know about the rest of you, but I REALLY need a drink after that."

"Amen to THAT."

"Count me in."

"Oh, hell yes."

"Understatement of the century." The heroes departed quickly, leaving the statue behind. Such was their haste to leave that none of them noticed something that had changed on the stone surface. One of its eyes was closed in a wink.


	12. Chapter 11: The Empire Strikes Back

**__**

Chapter 11: The Empire Strikes Back

"Nice morning." Belthasar, High Priest of Ladon, muttered as he looked out through the entryway of the Dragon Shrine that was his home. "Wonder when they'll arrive..." Shrugging, he was about to turn around and go back inside when something blue caught his eye. It was the hair of a young man holding a boomerang who was walking up the hillside to the Shrine, wearing a brand-new vest. Behind him were several others; a Wing Clan girl, a Forest Clan archer, a young Fusion Clanner, a fat orange Maniro, a tough-looking Builder Clanner, and... Belthasar blinked at seeing Deis.

"So she's with them... this IS serious, then..." All of them were well-armored and carried an assortment of shining weaponry, the result of a shopping spree in Prima paid for by the rulers. Belthasar stroked his drooping mustache and nodded politely to the Light Dragon youth as he came close.

"You would be Ryu, then. Melchior and Ladon have told me about you... I was expecting you a bit sooner, but better late than never."

"There was some trouble with the Dark Dragons." Ryu deadpanned. "We made it, though. I take it you're the High Priest of this Shrine?"

"High Priest Belthasar." The old Dragon nodded. "Trouble with the Dark Dragons? Figures, with the state of things today... Emperor Zog's nothing compared to his father, let me tell you..." Ryu's eyes narrowed.

"Are you a Dark Dragon?"

"Does it matter if I am?" Belthasar coolly returned. "I haven't taken part in anything political for fifty years. I'm here to help you along the pilgrimage, which is for both Light and Dark Dragons, I remind you. Not to fight. Now unless you want to just sit there and be huffy all day, follow me." With that, he turned and went inside the Shrine.

"Gets right to the point, doesn't he?" Karn observed drily. "Right then, shall we go in?"

"Ryu only, bud." Bo shook his head. "The rest of us have to wait out here."

"You're serious?" Gobi blinked. "Man, what a gyp." He flopped down on the grass disconsolantly. Nina chuckled darkly.

"You probably don't WANT to be in there with what's going to happen. Just wait and see."

"Okay, enough talking." Deis cut in. "Go on, Ryu. You came here, after all; even if you don't like him, you need to get the next stage of your transformation." Ryu frowned at her, then walked after Belthasar. Ox sighed and put aside his new spiked iron sledge.

"So, anybody got some dice?" Ryu heard the big Builder Clanner ask as he left the others. The second Dragon Shrine was built almost exactly identical to the first. At the back, Belthasar was waiting next to the familiar Statue. As soon as Ryu drew near, it became Ladon.

"Ah, there you are, Ryu." Ladon greeted him. "Belthasar tells me you're ready for the Second Test. Is this so?" Ryu nodded.

"Yes, sir. If I'm to have a chance against the Tiamat Unit, I need this." Ladon nodded back in agreement.

"A wise choice. Very well, then. Let us proceed without further delays.Oh, one thing..." He added on a thought. "Like the first test, you have to remain entirely in your natural form. No Whelp transformation allowed. To pass the test, you must put to rest another who made it this far, but then failed, just like the First. Belthasar?" The High Priest raised a hand.

"Come, Bain!" The air crackled, and then caught fire. Ryu gasped as the eerie blue flames formed into a birdlike shape, which grew a beak, talons and eyes. The mighty firebird shrieked and flew towards him, eyes shining with only one thing. The desire to kill. Ryu threw his boomerang quickly without giving it the first strike. The projectile weapon whirled through the air and smashed Bain in the side of the head. To Ryu's chagrin, it went right through the flames and returned to him blazing hot; he was unable to grab it, and it skittered to the floor behind him. Bain shrieked again in anger as it dived on him, buffetting the Light Dragon with wings of fire. Apparently, it had been hurt, but not nearly enough.

"Right, THAT doesn't work..." Ryu growled. "Looks like it's back to basics!" Drawing his sword, he waited until Bain flew in close again, then swiped at its head. Bain hissed and flew back, receiving only a scratch on the wing. Its head darted out and pecked a painful burn mark, then retreated to avoid his returning slash. Changing strategies again, Ryu held up a metal shield which he had picked up in Prima and used it to block the beast's assaults while he slowly backed off. Confident, Bain pressed forward, and when Ryu seemed to drop his guard for a moment, it lunged at him. The Light Dragon dived to the ground, grabbing his boomerang in his shield hand and rolling out of the way in one movement. Jumping back to his feet, Ryu threw the boomerang and charged. Bain, caught off guard, instinctively moved its head away from the projectile weapon, leaving itself open to the true danger until it was too late. With one swing of the sword, its head went flying, and the entire monster disappeared like a doused campfire, leaving only faint trails of smoke behind.

"Well done, Ryu." Ladon congratulated him. Ryu calmly grabbed his boomerang as it whistled back towards him, sheathed his sword and regained the shield he had dropped.

"That one seemed easier than the last one..."

"He attempted to take the pilgrimage far too early..." Belthasar explained sadly. "How he even survived the first stage, I shall never know... he was scarcely more than a child, but he was a Light Dragon... when he demanded to take the second trial, I could not refuse... and that was the end of him..." Ryu's face paled.

"That was a Light Dragon?"

"No... not any more. That was no more a Light Dragon than Talon was a Dark Dragon... they were simply tortured souls. You released them from that, Ryu... they would thank you." Ladon calmed him. "Light Dragon, Dark Dragon... once, they were the same, no difference made between them..."

"Well, those days are long gone." Ryu grunted coolly, frowning at Belthasar. "So I don't kill Dark Dragons on sight anymore. I still don't like them."

"The feeling is mutual, young man." Belthasar grumbled. "You will never be able to complete the task destined for you as long as this hatred for my kindred remains in your heart."

"Save it." The Light Dragon growled. "I got enough preaching growing up. Now, where is the... whoa." He clutched his head as, involuntarily, he began to transform... but not like before. Tall, long and lanky, with an elongated snout and a wide wingspan... spines grew from its elbows and knees, and a fishlike spine sprouted along the neck, back and tail. Every trace of immaturity from the Whelp forms was gone; this thing was a full-grown killing machine. The scales were bright red, and the eyes sharp blue flames.

"The Fire Dragon..." Ladon noted. "Your emotions are burning very brightly at this time, Ryu..."

"Yeah, that happens." Ryu agreed. "I'll admit, this looks a lot more potent than the Whelp forms... so, what? Do I transform into adult dragons of fire, ice and lightning now?"

"Yes, and a fourth as well." Belthasar smiled slightly. "The Gold Dragon; useless against normal opponents, but the mere touch of its claws shrivels the undead. You probably won't use it often, but it might come in handy."

"I'll keep it in mind." Ryu grunted, reverting to his human form. He immediately had to place a hand against a wall to steady himself. "Whoo... I had gotten used to the Whelp forms, but this takes a lot more out of you all over again. Figures, I guess... bigger power, bigger drain."

"In essence, yes." Ladon stepped back onto his platform. "That's about all we need to talk about now, Ryu... you know where to go. The enemy is waiting for you. Be ready." He waved farewell and returned to being a statue. Belthasar helped Ryu down the hall.

"Come... there's a Spring of Life down this way. That should get you back on your feet by yourself."

"Thought you said you didn't like me, old man." Ryu smirked. Belthasar shrugged.

"You've improved from what Melchior said you were like at his Shrine. And I don't really have anything against Light Dragons... I left Scande for this Shrine long before Zog's mad dreams even began."

"I see..." Ryu gratefully drank from the Spring of Life the High Priest showed him, then rose to his feet. "Well, I should be going... the others will probably be wondering where I am. And hey... thanks, old man." Belthasar smiled.

"Get on with you, Light Dragon. You've got a world to save and not much time to do it." He handed him a piece of parchment without another word. Ryu nodded and left the Shrine. Outside, the group were waiting for him.

"Well, he's not twenty feet tall, covered in scales and breathing fire." Karn commented. "I'd say that's a good sign."

"Enjoyed the fireworks display?" Ryu grinned. Bo grinned back.

"Thought Gobi was going to bolt for a moment there."

"I was considering it when the flames reached twice the Shrine's height." Gobi admitted. "It's gonna be freaky when we see that up close, I can already tell."

"Yeah, but it'll be a lot more freaky for the suckers who are on the recieving end." Deis yawned, unconcerned. "Where's that piece of paper say the third Shrine is? It's probably relocated since I was last awake." Ryu opened it and read aloud.

__

In the north, a raging river,

Never seems to come to rest.

Across it, a great forest,

Hides the third and final Test.

"As usual, clear as mud." Bo sighed. Ryu shrugged.

"Yeah, but this should be enough to keep me in one piece for now, with luck... and the meaning will become clear when we need it."

"They always do." Deis agreed. "All right, enough talk about the foibles of the Dragon Clan. Who's cooking dinner?"

"Ah, the pleasant little town on the shore." Cort, the Blue Alchemist, observed. "Cozy. Rustic. Peaceful. Quiet. Nice little place, really." He shook his head sadly, smiling. "Almost a shame that I'm setting up shop here... but one can't waste such marvelous test subjects, can one?" The bald scientest was in an almost comically unnatural position; down on his knees, robes stained with dirt, and a trowel in one hand, on the mountain path above the town of Gust. The sight of the infamous Blue Alchemist gardening, however, would not have elicited a single giggle from any Dark Dragon soldiers; they were all too afraid of him to chance Cort's sense of humor. Cort judged the hole in the ground, nodded, and almost carelessly dropped a pink seed the size of his fist into the earth. "There we go... that should grow right." He immediately began burying it again. Behind him, farther up the path, Dark Dragon minion soldiers were remodeling a large stone edifice. Formerly the residence of General Targ, the officer who had been overseeing the town of Gust, it had been claimed by the Blue Alchemist as his new laboratory. The self-important General's rich tapestries and expensive works of art were of little value to the practical Blue Alchemist, and they had all been shipped back to Scande immediately. Now, the halls and chambers of the fortress were filled with chemicals, books, lava pits and cages.

"Lord Cort, sir!" One of the grunts saluted. "We have finished delivering all of your materials to the new fortress!"

"The new LAB, soldier." Cort corrected him mildly. Standing up, he dusted off his robes. "Post a new message on the local billboard, will you? Anyone who touched this particular dirt patch will immediately be transferred to the transformation magic research unit." He was smiling friendlily, but the soldier knew that he was dead serious. None of the soldiers who had been transferred to that unit had ever been seen again.

"Sir, yes sir!" The soldier saluted.

"Good boy." Cort took out his monocle and squinted at it. Wiping it with his sleeve, he put it back on and turned back to look at Gust. "Take a look at that, soldier. Nice little place, isn't it? Loyal town, good stock of young men to serve in our armies... why, I'd bet that some of the guys we have serving at the Lab right now were born in Gust."

"I believe I know a few, sir." The soldier agreed.

"Where do you come from, soldier?" Cort asked conversationally. "No, wait, let me guess. You look like a city boy, so it'll be one of the major places. Not here, I think... and not Spring. I'd know you if you were from there... you're human, so you can't be from Gramor, and Scande is doubtful... so it's Carmen, I'll bet. Well?"

"Dead on, sir!" The soldier agreed, a little surprised.

"Nice place. White came from a place near there, you know." Cort told him. "Gust, though... it won't be quite so nice shortly. Sacrifices have to be made in the name of science, after all. I doubt many will die... but things will be quite unpleasant there for a while."

"Does this have to do with what you just planted, sir?" The soldier asked boldly. Cort wasn't offended, fortunately for him.

"Exactly, soldier. A new experiment of mine, but one I expect great results from. After all, we have to set up a nice reception when Ryu and his friends arrive, don't we?" The soldier paled.

"Ryu? Ryu, the... the Light Dragon terrorist?"

"That's the one, although I don't know if terrorist is the right word." The Blue Alchemist nodded. "This is the logical place for him to come to the Lands of the West... only one he could come out of the ocean on and not get spotted by the navy."

"Then... why are we here?" The soldier stammered.

"Why, to engage him of course, my good man." Cort laughed. "I daresay even he'll have a hard time trying to deal with me. I like to think that I am quite good, all things considered. The plant isn't all; I've got quite a few things I think he'll find interesting to try." He tapped a finger against his head. "That reminds me. How is that civilian who saw us setting up here and had to be captured doing?"

"He remains in good health, although defiant, sir." The soldier reported.

"Good, good..." Cort murmured approvingly. "I think I may have just the use in mind for him..." He frowned and adjusted his monocle. "Hello... what's this now?" There was somebody coming out of Gust, climbing the mountain path. It was a young woman with long blue hair, with a worried look on her face. "She looks like she's searching for something... or somebody? Maybe that villager we captured..."

"More than likely, sir." The soldier agreed. "Shall I get a squad to take her as well if she comes too close?" Cort began to nod, still watching her.

"Yes, that would be-" He suddenly froze. The soldier blinked.

"Sir?"

"Who... do I know..." Cort muttered to himself in short bursts, eyes fixed in place. "No... never. Impossible... but still..." Groaning, he turned away. "Cancel that order, soldier. If she gets too close, just get a couple friends and warn her off back to Gust. Act like this is still General Targ's base." The soldier looked confused, but saluted nonetheless.

"Sir! Yes sir!"

"Good..." Forcing himself to forget the incident, Cort turned his back on Gust and returned to his new lab. As he walked down the hallways, he silently evaluated the state of the remodeling and made mental notes to be implemented later. When he reached the transformation magic research section, he smiled for a moment, then entered. Ignoring the animallike howls that came from the restraining cells in the walls, he crossed to his notes and went over them once more. "Yes, yes... this should be perfect for the young man. There comes a time when one has to take a leap of faith, after all..." Humming, he left the section and walked decisively to the prison. This part of the base, like every other, had undergone remodeling. Under Targ's command, the prison had been a slimy, festering hellhole. The Blue Alchemist had taken one whiff and immediately ordered it cleaned and sterilized. After all, he didn't want anything happening to any prisoners he took that would interfere with his experiments. The guard on duty there was the surviving magician from Prima. He quickly came to attention as Cort entered.

"Sir! No changes in the prisoner, sir!"

"I expected as much... Ernest, was it?" Cort inquired, and the grunt nodded. "Thought so. Enjoying yourself working here, I take it?" Another nod. "Good, good... I have a special job for you. Just a tick..." Walking up to the bars, he peered inside. The young, blue-haired man inside glared back.

"What do you want, Blue Alchemist?"

"Ah, you know who I am." Cort smiled. "Quite good... Nicholie? Is that your name?"

"That's me." The prisoner growled. "What are you going to do with me? I know you're not going to just keep me here, and you obviously can't let me go."

"Of course not, my good man." Cort laughed. "With what you've seen... well, can't have you spoiling the surprise for the citizens of Gust and any guests they might be having soon, hm? Good to see you know the situation already." He turned to Ernest. "Soldier, be a good fellow and escort Mister Nicholie to the transformation magic research section, hm?"

"Yes, sir!" The mage saluted.

"Oh, and Ernest." Cort was smiling calmly. "Stick around there, will you? I'm having you transferred to that section."

"As you command, Blue Alchemist!"

"So, has anybody actually been to the Lands of the West before?" Ryu asked. The adventurers were riding on Gobi's back as he blasted through the water in Great Fish mode towards the town of Gust. Deis immediately raised her hand. "I meant within the last century."

"Why didn't you say so in the first place..." The sorceress muttered. Nobody else answered.

"I have, actually." Gobi said after a moment. "It's really not that much different from the Lands of the East... the people, the towns, the land are all alike. The only real thing is, of course, that the Dark Dragons control everything. Also, there's mostly just humans there... the actual Dark Dragon Clan tend to stick to Scande, and the only other Clan in the West is the Mole Clan, who are slaves. It's a bad state for them, but nobody can do anything about it. I've been to a couple of the bigger towns, Spring and Carmen, but not Gust, and not Scande."

"Well, with luck, the ordinary people there won't recognize us... or if they do, they won't care enough to turn us in." Nina hoped. Bo chuckled drily.

"If we see wanted posters with our faces on them anywhere, we'll probably be in trouble."

"Well, aren't we gloomy." Karn snickered. "Cheer up, my dismal friend! We're going to an entirely new continent!"

"With entirely new pockets to pick." Ox snickered back.

"All right, settle down. Here comes the beach." Ryu announced. "You can set us down now, Gobi."

"Right, right..." Dropping to the ocean floor, Gobi waited until they had all disembarked, then returned to his normal form. The seven heroes rose from the ocean waters with no hassle. About a mile away, visible in the distance, was the town of Gust. It looked simple and uncomplicated; the houses were all white-sided, blue roofed and sporting windmill blades, like the style in Winlan.

"Nice looking place." Nina approved. Also like Winlan, the houses were built on multiple levels leading up the hills. It was situated at the entrance of a valley passage that led up into a large cluster of mountains. Beyond the town, further up the path, a large fortress was visible. Ryu frowned.

"That would be the local Dark Dragon outpost. We'll have to ask about the place once we get into town." They slipped into town without any hassle; there were no guards of any sort. Instead, they were confronted with a woman in a purple dress dancing around in a stationary whirl, making strange noises.

"Whoompapa... whoompapa..."

"Um... hello?" Karn asked hesitantly.

"Don't bother... she won't answer." A nearby man grunted. He was middle-aged and balding, with a sour look on his face. "She's insane, I'm afraid... just stands there dancing like that all day. It's all I can do to get her home to eat and sleep after the sun sets."

"I'm sorry..." Nina said sympathetically. "A head wound?"

"No..." The man shook his head in disgust. "Every so often, a blast of strange air will come down from the mountains... been doing so for about a week now. Some kind of golden pollen or something... anyone who breathes it in goes crazy. Both my daughter and her husband were hit head on..." He gestured towards a fountain in the center of the town, where a young man was running in circles around it.

"Up from the mountains... the Dark Dragon fortress, maybe?" Bo asked, narrowing his eyes. The man spat.

"Yeah. No doubt about it... before all this started, there was a big noise from where the big bridge up there is. One of the people who lives here is a structural genius named Nicholie..."

"Nicholie?" Nina blinked. "I know him... he once came to Winlan to do some work on our bridge!"

"That's the one." The man agreed. "Anyways, he went up there to take a look, but he never came back. Around that time, there were a lot more soldiers up there than there used to be. A woman named Tina went up there to look for Nicholie, but the soldiers turned her back. Shortly after that, the insanity wind started coming..." He shook his head. "It's a right bad scene, but none of us can do anything to the Dark Dragons about it. We just try to stay out of the golden wind."

"Where is this Tina?" Karn asked casually. The man shrugged.

"Probably working right now... if you want, though, I can tell her you wanted to see her and she'll meet you at the Inn tonight... I assume you'll be staying there?" Ryu nodded.

"That would be appreciated, sir. Thank you." They quickly found the inn, doing their best to avoid the crazy people, and took rooms for the night before retiring to the common room. A few hours passed, and then a young woman with light blue hair entered. She was wearing a simple crimson dress, but her eyes were intelligent.

"I'm Tina... are you the people who were looking for me?" Ryu slowly nodded.

"Yes... we are." Tina smiled wearily.

"The hair? I dye it... me and Nicholie both do. They say that Light Dragons had blue hair... we like the look, even if we're just normal humans." She blinked, taking in Ryu's own hair, as well as Deis'. "But wait... your hair's blue too! You do the same?"

"Not exactly..." Ryu admitted. Tina shrugged, not really interested.

"Well, it doesn't matter that much. What did you want to ask me?"

"We heard you went up towards the Dark Dragon fortress to look for Nicholie." Ox told her directly. "Did you see anything interesting up there?"

"Not really.." Tina thought for a moment. "But it did look like there was some kind of change of command going on... lot of soldiers moving things into the place. And the spot where I was halted looked like something had been buried there recently... but I was turned back before I could get closer. I've been too busy to go back up there ever since..."

"Busy?" Bo inquired, raising an eyebrow. She nodded.

"Yes... I'm the healer in Gust. I can't cure the insanity wind, but I'm trying to at least reduce the symptoms... it's been keeping me on my toes. I want to go find Nicholie, but..." She lowered her head. "The people here need me.."

"We'll look for him when we go up there tomorrow." Nina promised her. Tina slowly smiled.

"Thank you... your highness."

"Ha!" Deis laughed loudly. "So you knew who we are already, missy?"

"I've heard rumors." Tina admitted. "The Dark Dragons weren't a problem before... but this town is suffering now. And Nicholie... I can't help but think they're responsible for his disappearance too. Please, I beg of you... bring him back to me!" Ryu took in her face and realized what was happening.

"You and him...?" Tina nodded silently. "All right. We'll find out what happened... I promise."

"Thank you..." The healer smiled gratefuly.  
"Tina! Come quick!" Somebody yelled as the Inn door slammed open. "It's old man Maestro! He's hurt himself!"

"One of the casualties?" Karn asked. Tina nodded.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but..."

"Go." Nina pointed at the door. "We understand... you're needed. We're going up there tomorrow." Tina nodded thankfully and left. Ox sighed and leaned back in his chair, nearly shattering it.

"Well, we've certainly leapt right into trouble. Think it's a coincidence?"

"About as likely as Bo flying." Karn snorted. "They knew we were coming this way... but they didn't have ships here. You thinking what I'm thinking, boss?"

"The Tiamat Unit." Ryu's eyes flashed. "They're here... one of them, at least. That would be that change of command Tina was talking about. Too early to tell which one, though."

"So what do we do?" Gobi asked. Ryu smiled.

"Like we told Tina... we're going up there tomorrow to see what's happening with our own eyes. We should probably turn in now... big day ahead of us." Nobody could argue with that, and after paying for their dinner, they retired for the night.

In the dim light of sunrise, the guards on duty outside the Dark Dragon fortress were hard-pressed to keep from dropping off. One of them yawned and peered dimly down the path, then nudged his partner.

"Hey, do you see that?" He pointed. The other guard nodded.

"Yeah... couple of people coming up here. What did the Blue Alchemist say to do in case of this?"

"Think he said we should lock 'em up so they wouldn't say anything to anybody else..." The first one scratched his head, then looked at the two intruders again. He did a double take. "Hey, now... look at them. Those are the prettiest-looking girls I've seen in a long time."

"Hey, yeah..." The other smiled. "Maybe we should be nice to them and just let them off with a warning, eh?"

"A warning, and maybe a few favors..." The other one snickered. Together, they walked down the path. In the bad light, they weren't able to make out Nina's wings or Deis' tail. "Morning, ladies. Something we can help you with?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact, you can, sir!" Deis smiled, raising her staff as a signal. Two arrows flew through the air like angry bees and landed in the soldiers' foreheads. Even as they began to fall back, Deis and Nina caught them. Ox quickly lumbered up and, taking the bodies, he hurled them into a huge ravine that stretched to the left of the path, down into the ocean.

"Wow..." Karn stared across to the other side. "Is this as big as the Windian Bridge, Nina?"

"Not quite, but there's no way we're getting across..." Nina pointed to further up, where half a bridge dangled uselessly from the brink. "Dark Dragons must have taken it out. Let's hope that bridge builder, Nicholie, is still alive so he can fix it for us..."

"If he is, there's only one place he'd be." Ryu continued walking up towards the front door. "Let's go."

"Hey, wait... what's this thing?" Gobi pointed at the grass. There was a large, pink flower growing there, almost as wide around as they were, with small pink buds in a circle around it. As they watched, one of the buds disgorged a spray of golden pollen, which caught the wind and was carried into town.

"The insanity wind...?" Nina guessed. Bo nodded.

"Seems that way. Should we burn this thing?"

"No!" Deis said sharply. "We might need it for the antidote. We'll tell that healer girl about it when we go back into down... until then, we'll have to leave it be."

"Sounds like a plan." Ryu tapped his foot impatiently. "Into the fortress, then!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Gobi grumbled as they entered. Above the front door to the fortress, a dragon's head statue jutted out. None of the heroes paid much attention to it... nor to the fact that the fine sapphire eyes, which had recently replaced the emeralds that had been in the socket before, were tracking their every move.

"Doesn't look like there are any more guards around..." Bo muttered, keeping his hands on his weapon. "Strange, even at night. What do you suppose whoever's in charge here is doing?"

"Who can say?" Karn shrugged. "Let's look around, then!" The young thief sneaked forward, then jumped back in surprise as there was an explosion of smoke. From it, there was an angry growl, and two monsters stepped out, barring the way. For four of the heroes, they were completely strange... but for Ryu, Nina and Bo, all too familiar.

"General Graham!" The Forest Clanner yelled incredulously. "Two of him!"

"No, they're different..." Nina realized. "Look, their skin is yellow, not green. And they don't seem sentient... they're not talking. Just growling."

"Whatever they are, we need to take them down before they rouse the base!" Ryu commanded. Deis smiled darkly and raised her staff.

"I have just the thing." The others involuntarily jumped back as the massive fireball spell that had been Admiral Cean's last suicidal attempt blasted from the ancient sorceress and consumed the two beasts, charring the entire hallway. Ryu stared at her.

"You call THAT quiet!"

"You never said quiet. You just said take them out, and that got the job done." Deis lowered her staff grimly. "Look." Where the monsters had been, there were two charred human corpses lying. Both were wearing remnants of Dark Dragon uniforms.

"Hey, isn't that...?" Gobi stared at one.

"The guy we sent back to Scande with our message." Karn agreed. "Looks like being turned into one of those things was his reward. Not nice."

"Emperor Zog seldom is." Nina reminded him. "Let's go, quickly, before somebody comes to investigate." They ran up a staircase ahead of them, then stopped. Somebody was standing on the next floor.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's a bit too late for that, Princess Nina of Windia." The bald man with blue skin smiled. "Hello, hello, hello. I've been watching you ever since you first came near my laboratory. That was a neat trick of yours and the Sorceress Deis to take care of those two oafs out front."

"Cort, I assume?" Ryu growled without any preamble. The scientest bowed deeply.

"Indeed. I am Cort, Blue Alchemist of the Tiamat Unit. We, who have no past and no future, salute you." Cort was wearing a long-sleeved sky-blue robe, with a strange insignia on the front; a dragon with six heads, each a different color. One of the heads, a silver one, bore faint traces of having been added on after the others. Cort adjusted his ruby monocle. "And you would be Ryu, the Light Dragon. Nina, Princess of Windia... Bo, the great archer of the Forest Clan... Karn the thief, last active member of the Fusion Clan... Gobi and Ox, from Prima and Gant... and the legendary sorceress of Wisdon, Deis." To her, he bowed even more. "Ladon speaks highly of you, great lady... I am pleased to meet your acquiantance in person. As I am with you all..."

"Like you'd know what Ladon says." Ryu laughed mirthlessly. Cort smiled at him amusedly.

"Old boy, of course he does. He speaks to you, does he not?"

"Yes, he does." Ryu answered. "But we're... hey, how did you-?"

"Know?" Cort laughed. "Well, there you go. Who but Ladon himself could have told me? We of the Tiamat Unit are the opposites of your group, Ryu... not your inferiors, like Cean and all that came before him. And we've been talking with him for a great deal longer than you have, so we know some things you don't." His visible eye glittered. "Would you like me to tell you what the outcome of your quest shall be?"

"We don't need any help from you." Bo shook his head. "We're ready for you. Come on, then."

"Oh, don't be so uncivilized." Cort shook his head sadly. "We are colleagues in a way, meeting for the first time.. we should be more friendly than that. Have you had breakfast yet? I have a chef here who is quite excellent... why don't we get to know each other, compare differing views on morality, chitchat about the state of the war, that sort of thing, before we break out the arms?"

"You know, I actually believe you're serious." Gobi chuckled, then held up his pike, still smiling. "Unfortunately, we're on a bit of a tight schedule. I'm afraid we'll have to decline. Thanks for the offer, though..."

"Ah, such a shame." Cort closed his eyes in sorrow, then opened them, smiling evilly. "It seems that destiny cannot be halted, then. I should have known better. Let us begin, then. Feel free to come at me."

"If you insist!" Yelling, Ox charged and swung his spiked sledge downward. Cort didn't even flinch as he was hit head-on... and collaped into a puddle of liquid. "What the-?"

"A trick!" Bo hissed, spinning around. Cort was behind them, holding a flask of red liquid. Before they could react, he hurled it at them, splashing them all.

"Exactly, old boy. Let's see how this new formula affects you..." Ryu shook himself off and growled.

"Formula or not, you're going down! Huh?" He blinked. The tall Blue Alchemist had grown taller... but so had the room. The others, however, had not... and everything else just kept growing... realizing too late what was happening, Ryu charged, yelling, but before he could reach Cort, the Blue Alchemist moved left as quickly as a breeze in the air. Ryu was unable to strike again as the floor rose up to meet him, looking like a series of trenches in stone. Ryu quickly jumped onto a safe brick, and saw the others doing the same.

"Shrunk... he shrunk us!" Karn spat, disgusted.

"Ah, wonderful! Six different Clans AND an unknown, and it worked on them all perfectly!" Cort laughed, delighted. "My friends, you have no idea what a service you have done for science this day. I'm afraid, however, that the antidote has not yet been deemed safe, and I never use the same test subjects twice. Ah well, I suppose you'll manage. Enjoy the mouseholes!" Still laughing, he walked off.

"Well, THAT could have gone better." Gobi commented. "For example, we could have had just a little less of the getting our butts royally kicked. In record time, no less. This is going to be an embarrassing part when we tell our story."

"Will you stop jabbering and start thinking of a way out of this mess?" Deis snapped. "Being tiny sucks. A friend told me it wasn't so bad once... I think I'll hit him if I ever see him again."

"Maybe if we got that antidote he was talking about...?" Nina suggested, wondering if she looked like a hummingbird. Bo snorted.

"Yeah, maybe we can get to it in about a decade..."

"There's big trouble a' brewin', all right." A new, high-pitched voice agreed with the group's annoyed analysis of the situation. They all stared. It was a squat, grey mouse, and it was _talking_.

"You... how...?" The normally eloquent Gobi stammered, at a loss for words. The mouse shuffled its feet.

"Shucks, I don't know, partner. We used to be kept in a big metal cage by that one fella with blue skin, and he did some stuff to us. Then, bang! We could talk you big folks' language! He let us go soon afterwards... you're the first big folk we've talked to in a while now."

"Do you know where the place he kept you is?" Nina asked quickly. The mouse winked at her.

"Sure do, missy! Know a shortcut there through the walls, too... and I know what kind of stuff you need from there to get back to bein' big folks, even! Nothin' personal, but our size... just isn't a good look for you."

"Then let's go!" Karn grinned. "Lead the way!"

"Well, see, there's one thing..." The mouse coughed, looking embarrassed. "There's three real nasty roach fellas that were in there too... they got the same stuff as we did, but that wasn't all, no sir! They also got somethin' that made 'em super-strong! We can't take them! We've been at our wits' end trying to deal with them!"

"Leave that to me." Ryu cracked his knuckles. "I've been wanting to try out my new stuff in actual combat."

"All right then, this way!" The mouse led them to a hole in the wall. Ryu led the way, following the instructions of the mouse behind him, until he came to a slightly more open area. Three bright red roaches whirled on him. The entire room stunk of spoiled food, which was lying in clumps everywhere.

"Are you here to steal our food?" One of them hissed.

"I hate the huge ones! They always cause trouble!" Another complained.

"But these ones aren't so huge now!" The third snickered. "Let's get 'em!" All three charged, and Ryu met them head-on, changing into the Fire Dragon. The Roaches skidded to a halt and stared, open-mouthed. Before they could recover, Ryu opened his maw and released a chain of flaming death in the form of a serpentlike dragon that streaked from one to another to the third, leaving each charred and on their backs. Ryu turned around and grinned, gator-like.

"That wasn't so bad..."

"Behind ya!" The mouse yelled urgently. Ryu turned as the three roaches latched onto his back and sides. Roaring with fury, he tore one off and ripped it apart with his claws and teeth. The second one was hurled against the wall and then slammed viciously. It didn't get up again. The third had clamped onto his back between his wings, where his claws and teeth could not reach. His spearlike tail, though... the roach shuddered and expired as it was run through.

"That... was... AWESOME." Karn summarized all their thoughts. "Ryu, you're the MAN! Er, the DRAGON! Er... you know what I mean!"

"Young fella's right." The mouse shook his head. "Never seen NOTHIN' like that in all my days. Come on then, let's move! The stuff you need is right this way!"

"Right." Ryu reverted and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. "Ooog... forgot about this part..."

"Come on, Ryu." Nina helped him to his feet and assisted him down the tunnel.

"Something's bothering me..." Gobi muttered as they walked. "Cort could have killed us, easily. But he just walked away after shrinking us. Why?"

"He probably thought we'd never be a threat again, and didn't want to waste time finding a few bugs." Ox shrugged. "Come on, Gobi. Next you'll be saying he let this mouse out just so it would help us."

"Just thinking, is all." Gobi defended himself.

"Now, enough bickerin'. We're here." The mouse announced as they left the tunnels into another human-sized room. "Wait just a tick... I'll be back with what you want." Selecting a worn wooden table leg, he scaled it, and returned with what appeared to be a bottle cap, filled with deep blue liquid. "Everybody drink up. Don't worry, it'll just reverse what the other one did... you can't drink too much and turn into even more of a giant by accident.."

"That's reassuring." Ox smiled as they all drank the antidote. Immediately, the floor began getting farther and farther away. Before long, they were back to normal, standing in an empty lab. Down below, the mouse waved farewell, then scurried off.

"Nice guy, for a rodent." Deis smiled. "So, what now? Do we track down the Blue Alchemist for a rematch?"

"I think not." Nina gestured towards Ryu, who was still exhausted. "Our fearless leader here wore himself out... and I don't like our chances without him, considering how creamed we got the first time, even if it was a cheap shot. Let's get out of here and come back in better shape."

"Only question is, which way is out..." Bo muttered as they left the lab and emerged in a huge chamber that was dominated by a lava pit in the center. A thin bridge stretched across it, and on the other side... a door with daylight shining through it.

"Must be a back exit!" Karn exclaimed happily. "How lucky can we get?"

"How lucky, indeed..." Gobi muttered as they walked across the bridge.

"That depends on your definition of luck, old boy." Cort remarked casually as he walked out from behind a pillar next to the door. The group screeched to a halt. He examined them. "Hm... you seem to have bounced back quite well. My congratulations... but I'm afraid it won't be happening again."

"We weren't planning on a rematch right now, to be honest, but if you're going to insist..." Bo notched an arrow. Cort shook his head.

"Oh, no no no. The time is not right for OUR confrontation yet. No, I have somebody else who's interested in seeing what you have." He snapped his fingers, and a blood-red version of the transformed guardian beasts from the entrance walked out from behind another pillar. The Blue Alchemist smiled wickedly. "You'll find that my good friend the Rogue-X is much more of a handful than the ordinary Rogues you saw earlier... and much, much more than that fool General Graham. If you can get past him, you may leave my home whenever you wish. Until we meet again, my dear friends!" He melted into the floor, and the red Rogue-X howled.

"Errooo! Errooo!"

"We've got this one, boss!" Ox assured Ryu as the group dashed forward, leaving their leader on the bridge. Nina quickly powered up all their weapons, and they took up positions around the beast. Each time it turned to one of them, the others would attack. The dull-witted beast kept shifting its target, not bright enough to realize the flaws in doing so. One time, though, it almost hit Gobi. When it missed, it ripped an entire stone pillar out.

"Advice for today: Don't get hit." Karn whistled. Fortunately, none of them were; before long, the Rogue-X howled one last time and collapsed. Karn looked down and whistled again. "Boss, you'd better come see this." Ryu slowly walked up. Where the monster had been, there was a young man in common clothing. His hair was dyed a light blue. "This guy's no Dark Dragon soldier, is he?"

"No... this has to be Nicholie, the bridge builder." Ryu declared. "Is he...?"

"No, he's still alive... just unconscious. I'll patch him up." Nina quickly used her healing spells to seal the wounds. Nicholie slowly groaned, but didn't regain consciousness. "What's wrong?"

"Your spell's not strong enough." Deis told her bluntly. "That stuff that jerk Cort used on him must have been real heavy-duty bad news. Come on... we'll take him back to Gust with us." Bo and Ox carefully hauled Nicholie between them, and the group departed, Nina muttering to herself under her breath.

"What did you DO to him!" Tina yelled, outraged, as Ox and Bo set the still-unconscious Nicholie down on his bed. "Can't you tell a human from a monster!"

"We tried, believe me, madame." Gobi assured her with his best honest-salesman act. "Unfortunately, the creep in charge of the facilities intentionally obscured the matter." Wisely, he chose not to tell her about what had happened to the other Rogues. Tina sniffed, still angry.

"I still think this was FAR too much. I just hope he's fine once he wakes up..."

"Er... I don't think that's likely." Deis frowned. The ancient sorceress had been loking steadily more worried ever since they had returned from Cort's Lab. "We may still have a problem, folks."

"What is it?" Tina asked sharply. Deis looked at her steadily.

"I'll be blunt with you, missie. While your friend Nicholie was up there, the Dark Dragons did a lot of nasty things to him. When we met him, he was a giant monster, and we had no idea it was him. He only turned back to the way you see him now after we knocked the crap out of him and beat him unconscious. Unfortunately, mass times acceleration is hardly a medical cure-all."

"So you think..." Karn paled, and Deis nodded.

"That's right. It's very likely that as soon as he wakes up, young mister Nicholie will turn back into that... Rogue-X, I believe he called it." Tina looked both angry and frightened.

"No! There has to be something you can do!"

"Calm down, miss. There probably is." Deis assured her. "Healing normally isn't my area of expertise, but I think I remember dealing with a case like this long ago. If I recall the ingredients for the antidote properly, you should have most of what I need on hand... there is one thing, though." Her eyes narrowed. "Frog Oil. We need Frog Oil."

"Frog Oil?" Tina blinked. "No, I don't have any of that..."

"Didn't think so..." The sorceress grunted, turning on the group. "Well, come on! Does anybody know where we can get Frog Oil? Talk!"

"Well..." Ox spoke up hesitantly. "There is one place. I don't know if this is true, but... my wife told me once that she went climbing over the mountains east of Gant... and on the other side, she found a cave full of talking frogs."

"That sounds like exactly what we need." Deis nodded. "All right, I'll stay here... I know some things that'll keep him asleep for longer. They won't work forever, though, so you'll need to move and get to that cave."

"You want us to go mountain climbing?" Bo asked incredulously. She made a rude noise.

"No, you doof, there should be a beach Gobi can take you ashore on!" Exasperated, she began talking with Tina. Nina frowned.

"What do you think, Ryu?"

"I don't see that we have much choice." Ryu sighed. "Even if we can take down the Blue Alchemist, that bridge is down, and Nicholie's the only person who can fix it. I'll need a couple days off anyways before I'm back in real fighting shape... this sounds like the best use of our time. We'll go as soon as we've gotten a little rest and some food back at the Inn."

"This Inn?" Bo shook his head. "I think not. That'd just be inviting a midnight attack from the Blue Alchemist. Sorry, boss, but you'll have to hold on until Gobi takes us back to Prima."

"Guess there's no helping it..." Ryu gave in. Deis spun on them.

"Hey! What are you all still doing here? Didn't you hear me! We're talking a time limit that may count on seconds here! Go! Get that Frog Oil!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The group simultaneously yelled as they fled, as fast as possible, out of Gust to the south, with Deis still hurling dire epithets behind them.

"Bossy lady." Karn commented drily once they were safely away. Bo nodded in agreement.

"That's for sure. I'd still rather have her as an ally than an enemy, though, and she makes a valid point. Up for taking us as far as Prima so we can catch some quick Zs, Gobi?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" The fat Maniro griped. "Come on, let's go before she comes out and starts chasing us again. The heroes began walking down towards the shore, grumbling to each other on the subject. Save for Nina and Ryu.

"You sure you'll be okay, Ryu?" The Princess asked, concerned. "I know you're acting fine, but these new transformations... you're on the verge of collapsing entirely. It's not healthy."

"I've taken worse." Ryu reminded her, smiling wanly. "I'm tough, remember? I'll make it. I just have to get down to that beach, and then Gobi'll be doing all the work the rest of the way... although, I would appreciate it if you kept an eye on me in case I nod off-and possibly fall off-during the trip."

"No problem at all." Nina assured him. Ryu smiled.

"Thanks, Nina..." The smile disappeared. "I just hope we're ready when we come back here..."

"For Cort, you mean?" She guessed.

"Yeah..." The Light Dragon looked worried. "Nina, we really got our butts handed to us there... and this is only one of the Tiamat Unit. And hardly the strongest... if we had this much trouble with the Blue Alchemist, how would we fare against the Black Warrior or the White Assassin? Not to mention Jade and Zog..."

"We'll be fine, Ryu." Nina promised. "Trust me. Cort caught us by surprise... we didn't get a chance to see what our own hits would do to him. That won't be happening again... especially not if you use your new Dragon forms on HIM once you're back up to speed. We'll win, Ryu. We always have before, and we will this time, too. We have to, don't we?"

"Yeah... we have to." Ryu was smiling again. "Thank you, Nina... I needed to hear that from you."

"Any time, Ryu." Nina nodded. For a moment, it seemed like one, or both of them, was going to say more, but neither did; they just kept going onward, towards the ocean that sparkled with setting sunlight. Behind them, unobserved by them all, the same sunlight glinted off of a polished monacle of red ruby. But the owner of the monocle said nothing either; he simply watched them go, until they had vanished beneath the waves.


	13. Chapter 12: Am I Blue?

**__**

Chapter 12: Am I Blue?

"You summoned me, my Emperor?" Jade dropped to his knee as he entered the throne room. Zog waved him up.

"Stand, Jade. Nobody else is here... there's no need for the formalities." He stared off into the distance, smiling faintly. "Do you remember the old days... the days back when we were just plain old Zog and Jade? Prince Zog and Sir Jade when our parents were around... but to each other, we were just two kids who were going to make sure the world never forgot them..."

"Ah... yes, old friend. I do..." Jade coughed uncomfortably. "But those days are long gone... forever. We must deal with the present now."

"Indeed..." Zog sighed regretfully, then straightened up "Yes, that is why I called you here. What is the status of the Tiamat Unit at this time?"

"The Blue Alchemist, as you know, is preparing to engage the Light Dragon Ryu and his company, if he has not already." Jade reported. "He should be calling in very soon now; Silver is watching for that. The White Assassin has been dispatched to the Island of Tunlan, to recover the Time Key. The Red Dreammaster and Black Warrior are up north today, investigating rumors of the location of the Sky Key. They'll be back in time for dinner, I believe the saying goes. And I, your faithful Gold Lord, am right here."

"Excellent." Zog nodded in approval. "I'm glad to hear it, Jade... I knew the Tiamat Unit would not let me down like the others. Speaking of which, what's happening to our remaining officers? I haven't seen them recently..." He asked, curious. Jade laughed mirthlessly.

"I decided to treat them to a little lesson on 'How to do the damn job right.' Since you commanded them to obey all our orders unquestioningly, I took them down to the baths and had them all go for a swim in full armor. They were all pulled up after three minutes. I'm told the survivors were very appreciative of the lesson."

"It's not like they'd be useful against our current enemies." Zog nodded. "Not even Cean was able to beat them."

"Well, that's what the Tiamat Unit is for, my emperor." Jade reminded him. "Special cases like these. Don't worry; Cort knows what he's doing. He'll handle it." The Gold Lord blinked. "Well, speak of the devil. Silver tells me he's calling in right now."

"Can she take it in here?" Zog demanded, and Jade nodded. A moment later, a flash of light signified Silver's arrival. She held up a bottle of green liquid that was glowing brightly and poured it onto the floor. In the pool on the floor, a familiar face appeared and smiled at them.

"Ah, hello there, Silver... Lord Jade... your majesty!" He quickly saluted.

"Report, Cort." Zog and Jade said simultaneously. This cause the Blue Alchemist to laugh a little, but he quickly stifled it.

"Ahem... assuming control over the fortress here went off without a hitch. General Targ's things are being shipped back to Scande... at least I think they are. Might have accidentally sent them to Gramor or something instead. Oh well." He shrugged. "Once that was taken care of, I immediately began setting up several defense measures in case of attack from, ah, a certain party of interest to us all."

"And did this attack take place?" Jade inquired. Cort nodded.

"Indeed it did. Just this morning, as a matter of fact... came up here, killed the guards and blew up a couple of my experimental monsters. Not bad at all, but then he ran into me." He smiled with all the warmth of a glacier. "Needless to say, things went quite downhill for Ryu and friends then."

"Dead?" Zog asked. Jade frowned, but Cort shook his head.

"Not quite, I'm afraid, but the fight was quite one-sided. They're currently on the run... I think they were heading towards Prima. But they'll come back, I assure you... and when they do, the issue will be settled. Permanently, with any luck."

"Make sure it is, Blue Alchemist." Zog commanded sternly. "And when you do, take those Goddess Keys as well."

"As you command, my Emperor." Cort's eyes closed as he bowed. Those in the throne room were unable to see him do it, but the motion made it evident. "Believe me, I am still completely aware of the neccessity involved in reclaiming those Keys. I will complete my task, or die trying."

"See that you do." Zog nodded in approval. "If that's all there is to report, dismissed." The puddle evaporated, taking Cort's face with it. Silver turned and bowed to her Emperor before disappearing with the customary flash.

"Blue can handle it, old friend." Jade assured the Emperor. "I brought him back to Scande for a reason, just like the rest of them. And the talent I saw in him... in all of them... has served us well this far, has it not?"

"I'm not doubting them, Jade." Zog smiled. "I know Cort can do the job. And once he has, and he and the others have brought back the Goddess Keys... then we will be exalted above all others. We seven will release the Goddess Myria, and we shall return this world to the state it should be!" His mad eyes shone. Jade nodded.

"As it should be, my Emperor. As it was destined long ago." He bowed once more. "I am afraid I must be going now... pressing business."

"Go then, my Gold Lord." Zog nodded. Jade left, walking through the halls of the Scande Palace until he reached the Tiamat Unit's quarters. Jade preferred walking to where he had to go, as opposed to the more flashy methods of travel used by the rest of the Tiamat Unit. It wasn't that he was unable to do such things; he just preferred to walk, despite how much longer it took. Jade knew, better than any, that necessary events would take place when they were supposed to, and not a moment before. As he locked the door behind him, Silver rose from where she had been leaning against a wall, motionless. The green puddle was on the floor here now, and Cort's face was still inside it.

"All right, Blue." Jade smiled. "Now, for the rest of the report. How are they?"

"Not quite there yet, but it won't be long." Cort said matter-of-factly. "They took down my Rogues, including one on a new extra-strength formula, like they were nothing. I haven't seen Ryu transform yet, but observation of his behavior seems to indicate that he's only recently come from the second Dragon Shrine."

"Ladon will probably arrange it so that he'll pass by the third without visiting it at first." Jade predicted. "If he goes to the third so soon after the second, he'll probably kill himself the first time he transforms, and that'll dump everything straight down the chamber pot."

"Is the aftereffect from a dragon transformation really that bad?" Cort inquired. Silver shuddered and spoke once.

"Worse."

"Glad I never had to go through that." Cort shook his head. "Well, when he comes back here, I'll make sure to test how he copes with a second-level transformation. I've got just the thing for the purpose... wanted to test it in combat anyways." Jade nodded.

"Think you'll be able to get back another report before you take them on yourself again?"

"I'll try." Cort promised. "I'll see you then, Lord Jade... Silver." The potion evaporated, for real this time, leaving only a faint smell in its wake.

"This looks like about the right area." Gobi decided as he pulled up on a beach and reverted to his normal form. "All right, everybody, spread out and look for a cave."

"Right over there." Nina yelled, flying a good fifty feet upward and pointing to an opening in the side of the mountains to their east.

"Or, just do it that way, yeah." Gobi grumbled. Nina grinned as the group walked into the cave she had seen. As soon as they entered, they heard a constant chorus of ribbits echoing off of every wall. The cave was definately what they had been looking for. Lining the walls were individual dwellings that had been carved out of the rock. Covering the floor, completely unafraid, were the owners of the cave. Frogs. Bright green, dark green, blue-green, bright blue, even a few in strange colors like pink, all at least two feet wide. One of them, bolder than the rest, approached the strangers.

"Ah, 'ello! I assume zat you are, 'ow you say, friendly?" The frog asked, speaking with a strange accent. Nina giggled.

"We're friends, yes." Ox smiled. The frog clapped with his back flippers.

"Ah, good! Is zere any particular reason you 'ave come 'ere?"

"We need some help for a friend." Ryu explained. "A medicine..." He frowned. "We don't know exactly how this works, but apparently, we need some... Frog Oil?" Jacques blinked, but continued smiling.

"Ah, fear not, mon... er, my friends. Zis is a matter for ze king! Come, come wit me!" He led them to the back of the cave, where an electric blue frog, largest of all, was lounging. "King Louie, zese people need some of ze Oil."

"Oil?" King Louie harrumphed, fixing them with a beady eye. "Nonzenze, Jacques! You know zat ze Oil is forbidden from outsiders!"

"But your majesty, we need it! Medicine, for a friend!" Karn tried to plead, but Gobi grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the way.

"Hold it, kid. This is my area of expertise." He grinned at King Louie. "Your majesty... forbidden? Such a strict, unmoving word. Not friendly... and not appropriate. You see, in my experience, there's always something. Forbidden is never absolute. You can't tell me there's nothing you wouldn't trade for some Oil? Come on... anything?" King Louie's eyes grew devous.

"You know much, fish. Zere is one ting. A Gold Fly."

"Gold Fly?" Bo blinked. The King nodded.

"Ze Gold Fly... ze king of insects. Zey are very rare, but very strong... a fly of shining gold, ze size of one of us. I have long dreamed of tasting Gold Fly. Bring me one, and I shall give you zome Oil."

"We'll do that, then." Gobi rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Excuse use, your Majesty." The group, with Jacques in tow, left. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it? Admit it, I'm a genius."

"Uh, Gobi." Karn sighed. "One problem. Where do we get a Gold Fly?" Gobi's face fell.

"Um... anybody know?" Nobody reponded.

"Ze Gold Fly is one of ze most rare animals in ze world." Jacques said apologetically. "Ze King is zaking unfair advantage of you. Zey say zere are only a few in ze world at any zime."

"Where's Uncle Specs when you actually need him?" Ryu groaned. "He knows things like this."

"Or that one guy we met in the GrimFowl Woods." Ox shok his head. "But neither of them are around, so we'll have to try something else. Maybe Deis knows."

"Worth a shot, I guess." Ryu shrugged. "Back to Gust, then."

"Good luck!" Jacques called after them as they left. "I 'ope you are successful when we meet again!"

Fortunately, thanks to Gobi's high-speed swimming, the trip back to Gust only took a day, despite that it was on the other side of the world. As they were about to enter the town, they saw a heavyset, balding man angrily jumping up and down while screaming at a cave.

"What's up with YOU?" Karn asked rudely. The man glared at him.

"This stupid fly stole my lunch! Huge bugger!"

"Huge fly...?" Ryu blinked. "About two, three feet wide, bright gold?"

"That's the one!" The man angrily agreed. "I hate flies! Grrr!"

"You don't think." Nina said as they all exchanged glances. Ryu shrugged.

"Only one way to find out. Did it go in this cave?" The man nodded. "Right then. Banzai!" They dashed inside. The cave was strangely long and winding; almost like a one-way labyrinth. At the end, the fly was buzzing over a large chunk of cheese. It was at least two feet wide, and shining gold.

"Blech, I hate cheese!" It whined. "There's got to be something else to eat around here... ah, here we go!" Its compound eyes fixed on the group. "Puny mortals... maybe you'll do!"

"Funny." Ryu smirked. "We're here on behalf of a fella who'd love to eat YOU. Shall we see who gets to be lunch, then?"

"Feh! You'll be regretting those words soon, weakling!" The Gold Fly laughed. Lunging forward, it bowled into Gobi, who went flying like he had been tackled by Ox. "Huh! You must be high-grade weaklings... that should have splattered him like an egg!"

"Bug, you have no idea!" Ox bellowed, trying to smash it with his hammer. The Fly nimbly flew out of the way.

"Clumsy oaf! What are you trying to do, fan me?" Ryu frowned.

"How about this, then! Bo, Karn, knock him out of the sky!" They obliged, filling the air with arrows and throwing knives as Ryu helped with his boomerang.

"Yawn! I could do this all day!" The Gold Fly laughed. "Eh?" Nina suddenly appeared above it, attempting to skewer the bug. Quickly backpedalling, the Fly flew downward. "Whew! Close, but no cigar, bir-aw, no." It groaned as Ox's hammer smashed it flat. Pulling it back, Ox peeled their quarry off of it. It was flat as a pancake, but otherwise undamaged.

"What a pain." The big Builder Clanner shook his head. "You okay, Gobi?"

"My pride may never recover, but otherwise, I'll live." Gobi stood up, wincing. "Man, I wish I could sue bugs. I'd be rich. Come on, let's get this thing back to King Louie." As they lef the cave, however, somebody came out of Gust and glared at them.

"HEY! What are you doing back here? Do you have the Oil?" Deis yelled as she slithered up to them. "What are you doing, playing around with bugs! Nicholie's groaning back there! He could wake up soon, and you know what'll happen then!"

"We're trying!" Karn defended them. "The Frog King said he wouldn't give us Oil unless we brought him this Gold Fly!"

"Oh, really." Deis' smile was like an ice cube as she took the Fly. "Why don't you take me to this King Frog? I'll deal with him. Come on, let's go, King Carp!" Gobi blinked, looking offended.

"King CARP? Excuse ME!" Despite his huffiness, the group made it back to the Frog Cave in another day. Jacques was waiting to greet them.

"Ah, my friends! Did you find ze..." His voice trailed off as he stared at Deis. "A... a... SNAKE!" The ribbitting further inside became frenzied. Deis blinked, then frowned.

"Well, not exactly... but what's wrong with snakes, anyways?"

"Snakes eat frogs." Nina reminded her. Deis slowly smiled.

"Hm... this may be easier than I thought. I assume this one's a good guy?"

"Jacques?" Karn nodded. "Yeah, he's cool. Come on Jacques, this snake's with us. She won't eat you. Take us to the King." Jacques hesitantly complied. King Louie was shaking as they approached.

"Snake... why 'ave you come here?"

"Oh, no reason..." Deis remarked offhandedly. "I just heard there was a deal going on here for some Frog Oil."

"Never!" The King swore fervently. "I make no deals wit friends of snakes!" Deis smiled evilly.

"I think you're lying, my friend." She licked her lips, and the King squeaked. "You know, there's an old saying. Some people think snakes eat frogs. The way I see it, though, they only eat the bad ones... the ones who, say, renege on deals they made... or try to cheat people who need their help..." As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. At this point, the King looked like he was about to faint. "Yes, those kind are supposed to taste the best... even better than Gold Flies like this one." For the first time, the King saw the Gold Fly she was holding.

"You... 'ave eet?"

"Have what?" She smirked. "Thought there was no trade."  
"No... nonsense! 'Ere, ze Oil is right 'ere!" Hastily, the King pulled a large bottle out from behind a stalagmite. Deis gravely accepted it and handed him the Fly.

"Well then, a deal's a deal. At least one of us will eat well." She sighed. "Such a shame... but oh well, maybe we'll meet again!" She laughed and turned, slithering out of the cave. Jacques turned to the others, visibly relieved.

"Ze snake... would she 'ave really...?"

"We never really know with Deis." Karn shrugged. "Well, we should be going before your King decides to lynch us. See you, Jacques."

"Hey, Jacques." Gobi turned around as he was leaving. "You know, your people could probably come right out and declare yourselves a Clan. You seem like sentients to me, and I'm sure the other Clans would be happy to accept you."

"Oui, we 'ave considered it." Jacques agreed. "But not quite yet... we do not wish to draw attention to ourselves while ze, ah, Dark Dragons are so strong. Perhaps once zey 'ave been defeated." He shrugged. Ryu smiled.

"In that case, start making plans, Jacques... won't be too long now."

"You did a good job on that guy, Deis." Bo complimented the Sorceress as they walked back towards Gust from the shore. "Never knew you were skilled at that sort of thing."

"Well, I've known a lot of people over the centuries." Deis shrugged. "You pick up certain things... some good, some bad. That was actually kind of fun... haven't gotten the chance to do THAT to somebody for quite a while now." Nina raised an eyebrow.

"It can't be that long since you threatened somebody. What haven't you... you know what, I don't even want to know what you're thinking. It'd probably warp my mind."  
"Wise choice." Deis laughed evilly. "Come on, there's the town." As they approached, they heard a shriek, followed by the roar of a beast. Immediately, they began running. As they entered Nicholie's house, they immediately took in the situation. Nicholie was still mostly human, but his skin was red and scaly. Tina darted towards them, eyes wide with fright.

"He's...!"

"No time, girl!" Deis snapped. "Quick, the mix we made up!" Tina nodded and grabbed a bowl of some vile concoction off the table. Deis poured a generous portion of the Frog Oil into the bowl, then flung it over Nicholie, dousing him. Tina almost screamed, then stopped; Nicholie had returned to normal, and his eyes were opening.

"Uh... the flower..."

"Nicholie, are you okay?" Tina asked, kneeling next to him. He tried to rise, but she stopped him. "You can't... you were turning into..."

"No time..." The bridge-builder mumbled, looking at the group. "Are you... Ryu?"

"That's me." Ryu nodded. "Something you need us to do?"

"The flower... he planted it south of the base. It's... making the townspeople crazy. The pollen's bad, but if it actually spreads its seeds... the whole world..." He groaned again.

"The world?" Bo cursed. "Damn... right, we need to kill that shrubbery NOW. Come on, let's go." Deis wasn't moving; she was still staring down at Nicholie, shaking her head.

"No... this isn't good..."

"Something up?" Ryu asked. She bit her lip.

"This isn't right... he should be recovering better than this. Unless..." She swore as well. "He must have used that flower of his... if I'm right about how he made the potion that did this to Nicholie..." She shook her head. "This is just a temporary cure."

"Is there any way to make a permanent one?" Tina demanded. The Sorceress slowly nodded.

"Yes. Good thing I didn't use all the Frog Oil. We'll have to make another batch of medicine... with one alteration in ingredients. Ryu, when you kill that flower... bring me one of its roots. Not a big one... just a small one will do."

"Can do." Ryu nodded. "I assume you'll be staying behind to watch him?"

"Me... and Nina." Deis decided. "No telling if Nicholie'll go ape again... and if he does, I'll need her to help me subdue him." Nina slowly nodded.

"All right... Ryu, be careful..."

"Aren't we always?" Karn winked at her, pretending to trip over Gobi. "Come on, let's go." Ryu nodded and led the guys out of the house.

"You ready to go Dragon on this thing if you need to?" Bo asked.

"Yeah." Ryu clenched his fist. "I'm good. You think there'll be trouble?"

"Cort'll be waiting for us." Gobi growled. "And even if he doesn't feel like brawling, I've got a bad feeling about that flower. Without our best magic-users... we better be ready." All five kept tight grips on their weapons as they left Gust. Nearing the fortress, they soon saw that Gobi's prediction was correct. Cort was standing next to the flower.

"Hello, hello, hello..." He drawled. "So good to see you all again. I do note, however, that the lovely ladies don't seem to be here."

"They had other business." Gobi answered. "We're here for the plant, Cort. You want to fight us now, or will you let us kill this thing and live a few more days?"

"Such violence, as always..." Cort closed his eyes in despair, then smiled. "But in actuality, this is rather good timing. I was just wondering where I was going to get some plant food." The earth shook, and the heroes stared as the pink flower wrenched itself out of the ground. Holding the main blossom upright like a head, it waved smaller buds on the ends of long, thorny vinelike tendrils. Roots crawled out of the dirt and held the mass of plant life up, crawling like insect legs. Through this, Cort continued his diatribe. "You see, my pet here is a modified version of a species of carnivorous plantlife normally found in the southwest. They are known as the Death Flowers, but I named this one the Flower-X, being as how it is special... improved. As such, it needs better than average prey as well. See how you fare!" Laughing, he melted into the ground, and the Flower-X stalked forward without a sound.

"KNEW this wasn't going to be easy!" Bo yelled as he fired multiple arrows. The Flower-X lazily moved its vines aside so that the shafts missed, almost as if by accident. Less easily dodged was the horribly cold blast of frigid air that came from Ryu the Ice Dragon. The deadly plant recoiled, still silent, as frost formed on a few vines. Then, amazingly fast, it thrust its "arm" buds forward together, hammering Ryu on the snout with a double blow. The Ice Dragon staggered, dazed, and the Flower-X moved in for the kill, only to be stopped as Karn and Ox dashed forward, slicing and smashing. It appeared to think for a moment, then thrust its arm-buds forward again, this time releasing a noxious purple gas into both their faces. Coughing, they retreated, faces paling.

"Poison!" Ryu cursed. "Damn, I wish Nina was here!" Bo concentrated, and a lance of lightning smashed out of the sky into the Flower-X. It barely slowed it.

"Wish Deis were here too... my stuff can't cut it!"

"If wishes were fishes, the economy would crash, my friend!" Gobi grunted, darting in under the arm-vines and thrusting with his pike repeatedly. As the Flower-X turned towards him, Ryu leapt forward with another ice storm, this time breathing right into the main blossom. The Flower-X turned blue and ground to an unmoving halt. Gobi examined it critically.

"Think it's dead? YAH!" He yelled as both arm-buds struck him, knocking him into a tree. Bo growled and prepared another spell.

"This thing isn't dead until it's been slagged completely!" Flames covered the Flower-X's main blossom, then spread to the rest. Silent even at the end, it lurched towards the Forest Clanner, a burning wreck, and then collapsed. Gobi quickly grabbed an unburnt root and snapped it off. Cort emerged from the ground once more and stared at the remains of his pet with a look of despair.

"My Flower-X! What have you done to it?" He shook his head. "Don't answer that, by the way... it was a rhetorical question. I'm not going to lose my temper over this." He smiled. "As a matter of fact, I'll let you go for now... unless I'm mistaken, you need to get that root back to Master Nicholie, don't you?" Gobi slowly nodded.

"Yeah... we do. But why do you care about that?"

"I want to know if it will cure him too." Cort explained. "You'll be helping science as much as you are him. Besides, it's still not time for OUR real confrontation... almost, but not yet. There's..." He stopped talking suddenly, staring behind them. Ox turned around.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" It was Tina.

"Nicholie... he's changed back..." The healer was breathing heavily; she had ran all the way up. "Come quickly... they're trying to-" She saw the Blue Alchemist, and she froze as well. "...Cort? Is that you?"

"You... know each other?" Karn asked. Cort began shaking violently.

"No... argh! Who are... I don't..." Clutching his head, he melted into the ground and was gone. Ryu frowned, not reverting.

"We need to talk, miss, but not right now. Come on, back to Gust!" By the time they were back at Nicholie's house, however, the battle was already over. Nicholie was lying in his bed, groaning, and the women were sitting in chairs nearby, looking flattened.

"Nina! Deis! You okay?" Ryu yelled as he burst in, ignoring the screams from the townsfolk. Nina smiled wanly.

"It was touch and go for a moment, but then Deis remembered another one of her spells, and that took care of him."

"Did you destroy the Poison Flower?" Deis asked sharply. Gobi handed her the root by way of response. Acting quickly despite her exhaustion, Deis crumbled it into a bowl of clear medicine. Instantly, it thickened and became the vile-smelling glop she had administered earlier. "Already put the Frog Oil in... here goes!" She dashed the bowl over Nicholie. The bridge-builder's eyes opened, and he looked around.

"Whoa... where am I? Home...?" He held up his hands and stared at them. "I'm normal again! I'm cured!"

"Hey, looks like it worked." Deis smiled. "I'm a genius, all right."

"Nicholie!" Tina embraced him. "You're safe... oh, thank Ladon!"

"Well, that's one problem down." Nina sighed. Ryu nodded, finally reverting to his humanoid form.

"Yeah... but now, I think there's some talking to be done... miss Tina?" Tina slowly released Nicholie and turned around to look at them all.

"Cort... I had no idea he was the one doing all this..."

"You know Cort?" Deis asked sharply. Tina sat down in a chair next to Nicholie, who was watching her as intently as the heroes.

"I... thought I did. It's been years..."

"Can you tell us everything you know?" Bo asked gently. She nodded.

"Yes. We... were both born in a town further south and east of here... called Spring. It's one of the largest towns in the West... a beautiful place, no matter what season it is." As she spoke, her eyes grew misty, as if she was seeing the memories reenacted before her. "We used to say that Spring had been blessed by nature herself. It certainly seemed that way; nothing was ever really wrong there. We were part of the Empire, of course, but they never really bothered us more than they needed to. I loved it there... I had many friends my own age, and one ten years older."

"Cort?" Nicholie guessed. She nodded.

"He was a young man then... and from what my parents told me, he had been destined for science from birth. One day when I was little and he was an adolescent, my family were visiting his, and I wandered into his lab. It seemed a place of wonder for me... so much going on there that I couldn't understand, but wanted to. Cort found me, of course, but he wasn't angry... as a matter of fact, he started explaning things to me."

"Doesn't sound like the kind of thing he'd do..." Ox grunted. Gobi gave him a look.

"I'm not so sure... and besides, he was a lot younger back then."

"From that point on, I started going back there all the time." Tina continued. "I think he was happy to find somebody else who really understood what he was interested in. As we both got older, I became his lab assistant. Then, in my fifteenth year, it was all over in one day..."

"I'm going over to Cort's, mom!" Tina yelled as she ran by her mother. The older woman smiled and grabbed her daughter by the collar.

"Without even having breakfast? I think not, missy. At least take some bread and cheese with you."

"Yes, mom." Tina gratefully grabbed a large chunk of each off the table. Her mother sighed and shook her head.

"Take some for mister Cort, too... if I know him, he'll have forgotten to make himself anything to eat since yesterday. I don't know how he ever convinced his parents to let him live by himself... that young man may be the smartest person in this town, but he's the most absent-minded. No wonder you dash out of here without eating after spending so much time helping him." Tina just smiled and took some more food; she knew her mother meant well with her occasional nagging.

"Yes, mom. See you later!" Running down the street, she passed another group of adolescents. One of them called to her.

"Hey, Tina! Wanna join us? We're gonna go hunting monsters!"

"No thanks, Bert!" She called back. "I've gotta go help Cort today!"

"You're helping old Cort every day!" Another one laughed. "You're never gonna get into the army like that!"

"To heck with the army!" Tina laughed back. "I'm going to be a genius scientest too, just you wait!" Reaching Cort's house, she walked in; the door, as usual, was left unlocked. It was fortunate that nobody would ever dare to even think about stealing from the scientest. Not even bothering to check the rest of the house, Tina immediately went down into the basement, where Cort's lab was. Pushing open the triple-reinforced door, she found the town's genius hunched over a series of test tubes, each with a liquid of a different strange color inside. Cort was a tall, thin young man of about twenty-five, too lanky to really be considered handsome, with pale skin from a lack of direct sunlight. His hair was a black mop, and he wore a plain white coat. His sole concession to vanity was a monocle of ruby; even though his eyes were both fine, he wore it because, according to the little girl who had given it to him five years ago, it made him look cool. That same little girl had entered the lab without him noticing, and was now standing next to him, smirking. Looking up, Cort saw her at last.

"Oh, Tina. You're here. What's that you have?"

"Breakfast." She handed him the bread and cheese. "My mom sent it... said you'd probably need it. She's probably right."

"Hey, you know how it goes." Cort shrugged, taking a bite. "Science waits for no man. But give your mom my thanks; this is good." Tina gave him a look. "What?"

"No thanks for me, for bringing it?" She asked. Cort returned the look.

"Knowing you, she had to remind you to take some for yourself, let alone bring me any."

"Hey, you know how it goes." She returned what he had said. "Science waits for no woman. So, what's the plan for today? We going to continue working on that slime golem prototype?"

"Not right now... that's on the backburner after a discovery I made last night while analyzing some chemical compositions." Setting his meal aside, Cort handed Tina some notes. "Here, look at these. See anything interesting?" Tina's eyes slowly widened as she scanned the papers.

"This is... if these are correct, you could take a common Tri-Marble that's sold in any general store, and change it into..."

"Into a powerful adrenaline addition for combat purposes." Cort nodded. "In layman's terms, it'll at least double the strength of a soldier who takes it temporarily. And all it takes is to dunk the Tri-Marble in a certain combination of chemicals." Tina narrowed her eyes.

"What's the catch? It's not that easy... it never is."

"The catch is that it might be dangerous." Cort explained. "Some of the chemicals used... well, I just hope I'm right about this." Tina placed the notes on a nearby table.

"I'd try to talk you out of this, but I know it wouldn't do any good... and besides, I want to see how this turns out too. What can I do to help?"

"That's my assistant." Cort grinned. "Come on, let's start the double-check. We'll have to break down the Tri-Marble for this..." For the next hour or so, the two of them busied themselves with preparing for the experiment. Finally, everything was ready. The metal tub was full of a dull purplish-brown mixture, and Cort held a Tri-Marble in his hand.

"You ready to take notes?"

"Yup." Tina nodded, holding some paper and a quill pen. Cort took a deep breath and smiled.

"For science... and go." He dropped the Tri-Marble in, and both of them related expectantly. "If I did this right, when it floats to the surface, there should only be two spheres... a Bi-Marble, if you will. A stronger formula may be able to produce an even more potent one in the form of a single, but that's for later..." However, nothing was coming to the surface. Instead, the mixture was becoming a more clear, bright red. Tina frowned.

"Should it be doing that?"

"No, it shouldn't..." Cort muttered, biting his lip. Suddenly, the tub began rumbling ominously. Cort instantly spun around. "Tina, move! We need to get out of this house, NOW! I messed up!"

"I'm coming!" Tina yelled, running up from the basement alongside him as she felt rather than saw an indescribably bright light growing behind them. As she dived out the front door of Cort's house, the entire structure exploded with a titanic boom. Strange, blue smoke was everywhere. As Tina staggered forward, coughing, she saw many people gathered around. Her father pulled her out of the smoke and clasped her tightly.

"Tina... thank Ladon you're all right..."

"Cort..." She moaned. "Where is Cort?" Turning her head around, she saw movement, as her friend staggered out of the smoke. Everybody gasped. The genius of Spring had not made it out without consequences; whether by the smoke or something else, his skin and his hair had both become a dark, indigo blue. He stood for a moment, then pitched forward, unconscious. His own parents rushed forward and picked him up.

"Very interesting..." Tina heard somebody say. Looking to her left, she saw a man about Cort's age and a woman who looked only a couple years older than Tina herself. Both had long blonde hair, and both were clad in expensive-looking armor and white capes, marking them as high-ranking Dark Dragons. The man was staring at Cort as if he had seen a ghost, and the woman was examining a piece of paper; it was Cort's notes. Tina tried to protest, but what had happened was too much for her, and she blacked out.

Tina and Cort spent the next several days in bed at their parents' homes, being tended by the local doctor. Upon awakening for the first time, Tina discovered that her hair had been changed by the disaster as well, turned a lighter blue than Cort's. It was a week before she could leave her bed, and she immediately went to see Cort, only to discover that he was up already, and... packing his bags.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. Cort didn't look at her.

"I'm leaving, Tina."

"What?" She was stunned. "Where? Why?"

"A couple of... people saw the explosion and found my notes." Cort explained, tying a knot. "Lord Jade and General Cerl... both from Scande, the Empire's Capital. They offered me a position... said my talents would be highly valued there." He stood and turned, and Tina flinched, not at all used to his new colors. "I can't stay here, Tina... some of the townspeople have already started talking about this... saying I'm a danger, that I'm a nutjob, that I should be run out of town."

"They can't!" Tina cried. Cort shook his head sadly.

"My parents and yours would stand against them, but they can't do much against everybody else... and after what happened, I can't blame them. If I had made that formula any stronger... it doesn't bear thinking about. In Scande, too, the facilities are amazing... infinitely more than what I had here. And with Lord Jade and General Cerl backing me, I'll never lack for funding. There are... other things, too..." His eyes became strange, behind the ruby monocle. "Things I saw in that explosion... things I never even dreamed of... that I can't tell you. I have to do this, Tina... it's best for everybody."

"I'll come with you!" She vowed desperately.

"You can't." Cort shook his head again. "You're only fifteen still... and Scande's the Dark Dragon capital. It's no place for you, Tina. Nobody in Spring blames you for what happened... your place is still here. I..." He struggled with the words for a moment. "I do... almost wish you could come with me. But you can't. I'm sorry, Tina."

"Cort..." She whispered, eyes dripping. The blue-skinned scientist embraced her once, then walked past her with his bags.

"Goodbye, Tina."

"That was the last time I saw him..." Tina said sadly. Nobody else had spoken for a long time now. "We heard things sometimes, about how he was becoming famous, how the Tiamat Unit was formed, and him the Blue Alchemist... but he never sent word or came back himself. Then, a few years later... Spring was struck by a plague. The town that had been blessed by nature was cursed by it. I tried to stop it... by that point, I had become a healer, using what Cort had taught me in combination with lessons from the town doctor... but I couldn't stop that plague. I told everybody that Cort would come back... that he would hear about the plague, and that HE could find a cure... but he never did. After my parents, and his, all died from it... I couldn't take it anymore. I left Spring... and I came here, and met Nicholie." She smiled at the bridge-builder. "Some of the kids gave me grief about my hair at first... but he dyed his the same color, and nobody said a word after that... with his help, I was able to move on and start a new life here... I never expected to see Cort again, especially not in Gust..." She shook her head. "I don't see how he could have done all this... he must have changed more than I could ever imagine in Scande."

"But why did he react that way to seeing you?" Bo frowned.

"Who knows..." Ryu shrugged, his face dark. "Tina... I hate to say this, but it's likely we'll have to fight him soon..." Tina nodded sadly.

"I know."

"Before that, though..." Nicholie sat up. "I owe you all... majorly. I thought I would never be cured. And you're going west, right?" The heroes nodded. "You'll need the bridge fixed, then. I'll take care of it."

"But won't the Dark Dragons capture you again?" Nina asked.

"I don't think so." Gobi shook his head. "Cort's an odd bird, but I'm starting to get how he thinks. At this point, he won't bother us until WE leave the town... Nicholie doesn't matter to him anymore. And when we do go on, he'll come for us himself. Nicholie should be fine."

"It will take a few days, though." Nicholie cautioned them. "Do you mind waiting?"

"We'd have to anyways." Ryu groaned. "I'm starting to get used to these second-level transformations... slightly. But I still need some time to recuperate."

"Great, then!" Nicholie grinned. "I'll get the bridge done as soon as possible!" Tina held his hand.

"I'll come up with you... I don't know anything about bridges, but I should be able to help a little." Deis nodded.

"Good... hey! I've got an idea!" From somewhere nobody could see, she pulled out a crystal ball, about the size of an apple.

"Hey, is that one of those things that lets you see the future?" Karn asked, excited. The Sorceress nodded.

"You got it. Let's see here..." Holding up the crystal ball, she squinted into it. "This should be giving some sort of reaction on what'll happen... YOW!" Everybody stared as the crystal ball exploded violently, sending shards everywhere and releasing a puff of smoke that covered Deis' head. When it cleared, she was looking quite annoyed, and her face was coated in soot.

"Well." Karn commented after a moment of silence. "THAT's not a good prize."

"It COULD be seen as a bad omen, but I doubt it." Deis grumbled, brushing her face off. "That ball was a piece of junk anyways... I bought it at Crazy Pachinko's Discount Everythings."

"Hey, Crazy Pachinko was an ancestor of mine!" Gobi smiled. Deis rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised by this. At any rate, we'll be fine. Come on, let's get back to the Inn and give the lovebirds some time alone." Tina and Nicholie both blushed furiously as the heroes left, amid a few sly winks and whistles from Bo, Karn and Gobi.

The next few days were a time of relaxation. The townspeople of Gust were all incredibly grateful for being rid of the Flower-X. The ones who had been stricken by the pollen hadn't yet been cured, but those who remained were optimistic, and insisted on various gifts. One young man even gave them a flute of incredible beauty that had been made by his grandfather, a craftsman of true talent named Maestro, before the old man had been hit by the pollen. Despite the protests of the others, Karn accepted the flute, skillfully evading questions about what they would do with the thing at all. The young thief also discovered, to his delight, that another one of the surviving Fusion Clanners was hiding in Gust. He quickly tracked his kinsman down and devoted his time to learning another technique. Nicholie and Tina, true to their word, went up every day to work on the bridge and came back weary but unharmed, proving Bo's prediction to be true. The heroes enjoyed theirselves, rested up, and generally had a good time.

They all knew it wouldn't last.

On the fourth day since the fight with the Flower-X, the group agreed to Karn's urges to visit the shore; it seemed his new Fusion only worked while underwater. When they were all below the waves, the Thief Clanner turned to them.

"Right then, selecting for brains and brawn here. Gobi, Ox, come here."

"Aw, not again... Gobi groaned. Ox frowned.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Not bad... just wierd." The fat Maniro advised him. Bo nodded.

"He's right. Be warned, you'll never look at fish the same way again."

"All right, let's go." Karn stood between them. "Ahem. Fusios Karn Pisces Gobi Taurus Ox! Fusios Debo! Debo!" There was an explosion of blinding light, like with the Shin spell. Floating in its wake was what appeared to be the most bizzarre fish ever created. Possessing both Ox's muscle and Gobi's girth, it had the Maniro's head with his used-weapon-salesman grin above Ox's heavy beard. The Builder Clanner's arms flexed, and the lower body, which was a fish-tail of an inexplicable bright purple, thrashed.

"All right!" The fusion laughed. "This is great!"

"Debo, was it?" Bo asked. The fusion nodded. "All right, Debo. It looks great. But we should be getting back to Gust, so if you wouldn't mind reverting?"

"Spoilsport." Debo grumbled. "Oh, all right. Revertus!" The three seperated.

"Oog." Ox shook his head groggily. "See what you meant. That was bizzarre."

"You get used to it after a while." Gobi shrugged, polishing his pike. "Too bad we won't be using that one very often, eh?" Karn frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it can only be used underwater, right?" Gobi explained. "But whenever we go underwater these days, I just go Great Fish and take us wherever we need to go. So it would be kind of counterproductive." Karn's face fell.

"Well... yeah, I guess. Rats."

"Ah well, let's get back to Gust." Deis shrugged. The heroes nodded and walked back, Karn muttering to himself the entire time. It was sunset when they arrived back. As they entered, one man ran up.

"We've got trouble, sirs! Nicholie and Tina haven't come back yet! They said they'd finish their work today, but..."

"Cort." Gobi cut him off. "Has to be. If they've finished the bridge..." Ryu frowned.

"Yeah. Everybody ready? This is it." Everybody nodded. Without another word, he led them up the trail. As they neared the completely repaired bridge, they saw three people on the far side of it. Two of them were sitting in front of it, bound and gagged; Nicholie and Tina. The third was watching them approach, a smile on his face. The sunset reflected off of his monocle.

"Hello, hello, hello." The Blue Alchemist greeted them. "I was wondering when you would come up. We've been waiting here for quite a while."

"You'd even do that to her?" Nina growled. "You disgust me." Cort looked, if anything, more amused.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about... true, the girl does seem familiar, but it matters not. Whoever she is, she means nothing to me. To business. I think you know why I've called you here today."

"You want to throw down." Deis smiled darkly. "Well, sounds like a plan to us. Let's party, then."

"As you wish, great lady! You broke the curse on Nicholie here, but you won't break me!" Laughing, Cort flung his arms wide, revealing hundreds of small bottles attached to his robes. Taking one in each hand, he began tossing them over the gap. As they hit the ground, they exploded in flaming goo. The heroes hissed and stepped back. Cort grinned devillishly. "Here's how it goes. You try to cross the bridge, and I try to stop you. If you make it across, you get the hostages back, unharmed. Oh..." He wagged a finger at Nina. "And no flying across, Princess... that's cheating, I'm afraid, and I'd have to take action against our young friends from Gust." Tina's eyes widened, and Nicholie's narrowed as he yelled muffled imprecations. Bo's face darkened.

"You really don't remember... we'll just have to MAKE you, then!"

"Interesting threat there, old boy, but talk is cheap!" Cort taunted, throwing another bottle. "See if you can back it up, then!" The heroes danced around, dodging each bottle as it landed.

"Damn... what can we do?" Ryu wondered. "We'll be sitting ducks if we cross that bridge, but he's got enough of that stuff to keep us here forever!"

"If anybody has a plan, now would be a good time for it!" Karn agreed.

"Funny you should ask that." Gobi dodged a bottle easily. "I just happen to know exactly how we can win."

"Then stop yakking and tell us!" Deis yelled, narrowly avoiding a nasty tail burn.

"It's simple, really. We go on across the bridge." Gobi explained. "Bo stays back here, and each time Cort throws a bottle, he shoots it out of the sky before it hits us." Bo nodded slowly.

"That just might work."

"You serious?" Karn blinked. "I mean, I know you're good, Bo, but those things are tiny, and look how long that bridge is! Plus, you'd need to hit them when they weren't over the bridge at all, or they'd just burn through it! You guys sure about this?"

"Yeah, we're sure." Gobi nodded. Bo fired off an arrow as a demonstration, and a bottle that was halfway over the gap burst, dropping flaming goo into the ocean below. "Besides, do we have any other choices?"

"Not really." Ryu agreed reluctantly. "All right, let's go." With Karn in the lead on account of his speed, the group dashed across. Cort smiled.

"Gotcha!"

"I think not, 'old boy'!" Gobi yelled, as Bo increased his arrow fire to a blistering rate. Not only were Cort's bottle taken down, but the Blue Alchemist was forced to dodge as well, lest he be hit. One or two of the bottles came dangerously close, but none of them actually landed, and the heroes grew closer. Finally, Karn jumped towards Cort, knives flashing, and the Blue Alchemist was forced to melt away into the earth, reappearing on a hilltop a short distance away.

"Good, good!" He cackled. "Very well, you win. Excellently played, Merchant of the Sea. The hostages are yours, and the Forest Archer can join you over here." Nina and Ryu quickly sliced apart the ropes and gags on Nicholie and Tina as Bo crossed the bridge.

"Cort, why are you doing this?" Tina demanded, as soon as she was free. "What did they DO to you in Scande?" The Blue Alchemist stopped laughing.

"You... I can't keep thinking I know you from somewhere..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Whoever you are, girl, I am the Blue Alchemist of the Tiamat Unit. We have no past, and no future."

"No past?" Tina demanded. "What about Spring, then?" Cort's eyes widened.

"Spring...? Where I... what? What did I do there?"

"You don't remember..." Tina's face was sad, but resolute. "You don't remember Spring? What about the people there... like your parents, Theo and Carla?"

"My parents..!" Cort growled, clutching his head. "They were... no! Stop this at once, girl!"

"Or what about the other people there?" Tina pressed on. "Bert... Freddy... Mayor Donald?"

"I said, stop!" Cort was in visible pain now, sweat running down his bald head. "I don't want to... argh!"

"And my parents, too... Mary and Joseph!" Tina was shouting now. "The ones who always made breakfast for you when you were too caught up in your work to remember by yourself... or old Ernie, the healer who everybody said first got you started?" None of the heroes were moving, and neither was Nicholie; they were all watching the Blue Alchemist and his ex-assistant.

"Please..." Cort grated, his teeth clenched. "No more... I don't... want to remember..."

"Cort... don't you even remember me...?" Tina's voice had dropped, and now she was almost begging. "Your lab assistant... Tina?"

"AAAAIIIIIEEEE!" Cort's scream was like a mortally wounded animal. He jumped from the hill, and at first, the heroes thought he was trying to kill himself... but then he began glowing, and many beams of golden light blasted out like spears.  
"He's transforming!" Deis yelled. "I don't know what you did, missy, but it drove him over the edge! Get back, you two!" Nicholie and Tina obediently retreated. There were explosions in the air as the remaining bottles of flaming goo exploded, but Cort seemed completely unharmed. The impact as he hit the ground sent them all flying. When they looked up, a monstrosity like nothing they had ever seen before was waiting for them.

"Ladon's teeth..." Ox swore, slackjawed. The beast was huge and flat, an amphibian with heavily muscles rippling under damp orange skin. Four ponderous legs with green bands ended in long, sharp claws. Along its back, six titanic horns protruded from pulsing orifices, like curving stalagmites. Most frightening, however, was the face; slitted yellow eyes with green rims glared evilly from above a gaping purple mouth that was filled to the brink with grinning razor teeth.

"Elder Khel's intelligence wasn't kidding about what these guys could do..." Karn muttered. Ryu was the first to recover.

"Come on, people! We knew this would be rough... we've got no choice now! Take him down!" Jumping up, he transformed into a mighty Dragon of a blue as dark as Cort's skin had been. Before he could take flight, Cort moved, leaping hundreds of feet into the air and falling onto Ryu with startling speed. Ryu buckled under the weight, then recovered, gouging with teeth and claws as the Blue Alchemist responded in kind. The two of them rolled around on the ground, tearing at each other. Ox and Gobi dashed forward, hammer and pike at the ready, but Cort's huge back horns kept them from getting close enough to hit. Nina, as usual, rained power-up spells upon them all to begin, as she yelled to Deis.

"Now would be a really good time for that spell you remembered to use against Nicholie!"

"Good call!" Deis agreed, raising her staff. Dozens of lightning bolts fell from the sky like javelins, piercing both beasts. Ryu was largely unharmed, but Cort was different; screeching, the horned toad threw the Lightning Dragon at the sorceress. Both went down, and Nina rushed to heal them. Cort made to jump upon all three, but now that he was standing upright, Ox and Gobi acted, smashing and stabbing at his two front legs. Recoiling, the beast reared up and struck downward with his claws, and both were forced to back off with terrible slashing wounds. Karn winced and threw a throwing dagger towards Cort's face. It lodged in the rubbery skin below his left eye, and the monster turned towards him, only to get several arrows in its side. Changing its target even as it leapt, it came down hard on Bo. Cort bent down to rip his head off, but before he could, he was attacked again. The entire area was filled with a network of interlaced electricity, all of it pumping into the horned toad. Thrown back by the sheer force of the blast, Cort went flying over the edge of the gap, down into the ocean. Ryu smiled.

"That seemed to work. Did I get him?" There was a huge splash, and Nina smiled.

"Seems like it. Good-"

"No!" Deis yelled sharply. "That wouldn't have been enough!" Immediately, the splash was heard once more, and Cort came sailing overhead. Again, the impact of him with the earth was like an earthquake.

"Damn it... just made him madder!" Bo swore. Instantly, the Blue Alchemist jumped again, landing on Karn this time. The thief went down under his weight and claws. Ryu screamed with rage and blasted him again, but this time Cort took it in stride, turning towards the Thunder Dragon. The horned toad's eyes rolled wetly in his sockets, and he gnashed his fangs, cackling.

"How the hell can we STOP this guy!" Gobi yelled.

"Maybe both at once!" Deis yelled. "Come on, Ryu!" Both mighty electrical spells lanced forth, covering Cort in smoke. The smell of burning amphibian filled the air. But Cort remained standing. His eyes turned to Bo, and he prepared to leap. Arrows flew through the air and hit him in the face, but he leaped anyways. Bo growled and kept firing.

"Bo, move!" Nina screamed. The archer from the forest ignored her. He just kept hurling more and more arrows upward as the horned toad descended. At the last moment, there was a blur of motion, and Gobi knocked him aside while sticking his pike straight up. Cort hit it-and Gobi-hard. All four claws smashed into him. And still Gobi attacked, pulling his pike out and thrusting into the open maw just above him. Snarling, Ryu dashed forward and hit Cort like a charging bull, knocking him off. Cort stumbled, then whirled around, still defiant. An arrow took him through the eye, and he screamed. Bo was standing up, still on the assault. Cort tensed, ready to leap again and finish the job, but then Nina was there, ramming her rapier into the eye socket. Deis and Ryu instantly knew her plan. Even as Cort swatted her down like a fly, the Lightning Dragon released the last of his power into the air. Drawn to the rapier, it went straight into Cort's skull.

"Uggh..." Cort groaned. He slowly turned towards Ryu, shaking slightly. Deis followed up, giving everything she had as well. Again, the lightining blasted through the rapier and the eye. Cort stopped. He began to fall, then jerked upright and flexed his legs. And then a pike, thrown up with the last ounce of Gobi's strength, flew up and was brought by gravity straight into the socket. Cort smiled. Cort shook.

Cort fell.

The horned toad hit the ground with one last quake, and skidded a good thirty feet before shrinking. The horrible horns and fangs and claws shrunk and disappeared, and the rubbery orange skin faded back to blue. A ruby red monocle rolled along the ground for a few inches at his feet and then stopped. Nobody spoke for a moment, until Nina slowly flew over to Gobi.

"Tell me you're still alive."

"Technically, yes." The Maniro winced, then smiled. "Hey... we got him." Nina rolled her eyes.

"Insane, all of you." She did her best to heal them all. When she was done, they could walk, but the wounds were still there. "Sorry... magic has limits."

"We can go back to Gust as soon as we're done here." Ryu assured her, then looked over at the fallen Blue Alchemist. Tina and Nicholie had rushed back over as soon as he had transformed back. Despite that he was back in his human form, Cort's injuries remained, and the blue robes were stained with blood. He was dying.

"Tina..." Cort whispered. "You... little Tina from Spring. I remember now... you weren't there when I went back..."

"You went back?" Tina asked hesitantly. "When? I left after the plague..."

"The plague..." Cort's eyes closed. "Yes... I heard about it, and did everything I could to make a cure... but even then, I wasn't fast enough. When I arrived, old Ernie told me my parents and yours had both died before I could get there... when I asked about you, he said you were gone too. I thought that meant... the plague..." He coughed up some blood. "I couldn't take it. Gave the cure to Ernie and went back to Scande... and made a potion to forget everything..."

"So that's why you couldn't remember her." Gobi realized, limping over by using his pike as a crutch. "Well, mostly."

"Mostly... but when I saw you again... well, no potion is perfect." Cort smiled, then grimaced with pain. He looked at Nicholie. "I... have a request to make of you. It may seem odd after what I did to you, but... please. Take care of her."

"That, I can promise... even to you." Nicholie agreed. Cort smiled, then looked at Ryu.

"Ahhh... this is still hard to believe. I thought I was stronger than this... but I suppose there is no arguing with destiny." Ryu frowned darkly, but before he could speak, Cort held up a hand. Inside were a few pink petals. "These are from... the Flower-X. Lightly brush the tongue of each person who has inhaled the pollen with a petal once, and once only... it will cure them." Ryu took the petals, face unreadable.

"I won't ask why you're doing this... it doesn't really matter at this point. But look... wherever you go, you can at least know you died doing your duty to Emperor Zog... for whatever reasons you serve him."

"Heh... not Zog." Cort chuckled, hacking up more blood. "I die... for Lord Jade. I had a past... after all... but like my comrades... I still have no... future." He shuddered convulsively. "Heh... this is the first time I've... actually helped people with my knowledge... in years. Feels nice... takes me back... to so... long... ago..." He shuddered again once more, and then he was dead. Tina was crying, and Nicholie was holding her. Deis silently came over and picked up the ruby red monocle, then placed it on the fallen Blue Alchemist's face.

"Sentiment for an enemy? From you?" Karn asked weakly. Deis shrugged.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think. Come on, let's get back to Gust... we're all going to need some time in bed."

"What about Cort?" Nina asked as they crossed back over the bridge. "Shouldn't we bury him or something?" Deis' ears pricked up as they all felt a flash of blinding light behind them.

"I think it's being taken care of."

"Who...?" Ryu muttered as he turned around. Holding Cort's limp body was somebody wrapped entirely in grey robes that obscured everything about them. On the front of the robes was the same symbol that adorned Cort's; a six-headed dragon, each head a different color.

"Tiamat Unit?" Bo shook his head. "But it doesn't match the description of any of them..." The grey-cloaked figure watched them for a moment, then disappeared in another burst of light, taking Cort's body with it.

"Wonder who that was..." Ryu muttered. "We should be glad it didn't want to fight, I guess. If it was Tiamat Unit, we'd be dead meat."

"So let's get going before it changes its mind and comes back." Ox grunted. Nobody could argue with that, and bringing Nicholie and Tina with them, the seven heroes returned to Gust. Behind them, the Dark Dragons inside the lab continued their duties, unaware of what had taken place just outside, and waited for their master, the Blue Alchemist, to return.


	14. Chapter 13: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of The...

**__**

Chapter 13: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These

It was past midnight in the halls of Scande, capital city of the Dark Dragons. A pair of soldiers were standing guard, having lost the rolling of the bones that determined who took what shift. They were starting to nod off anyways when a bloodcurdling scream filled the air, followed by a thunderous impact. Both were instantly awakened. There was another scream, and more thumps.

"Ladon... what IS that?" One of them wondered. His partner frowned as the screaming continued.

"It's coming from the Tiamat Unit's quarters... who knows what THOSE people are up to." The first one shivered.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good... I pity the fellows who are on duty anywhere near there tonight." The other one nodded and mumbled a quick prayer to Ladon for his comrades.

Inside the Tiamat Unit's quarters, two robed and hooded figures were watching as Goda, the Black Warrior, released another beastial howl before crushing a stone pillar into sand with his bare hands. Several other pillars had already fallen in this manner. Nearby, lying in front of a cold stone Statue of Ladon, was the cause of Goda's grief; the dead body of Cort, the Blue Alchemist. The shorter of the watchers, the one dressed in purple, muttered a vile expletive under his breath, and the taller one garbed all in grey turned to him.

"Something wrong, Red?"

"Look at him, Silver." Mote, the Red Dreammaster, hissed. "Not one brain cell inside his head is working... his mental functions are completely shut down. He'll do this for weeks if we let him... but we don't HAVE weeks, and we can't let him bring Scande down around us."

"It seems like a normal reaction to me... albeit dangerous with his power." Silver observed. Mote shook his head.

"You don't see either of us doing that, do you?"

"I haven't known you all for as long as Goda has, and you can probably shut your emotions off at will." Silver pointed out.

"Nevetheless." Mote walked forward. "It won't do for Lord Jade to see him like this... let alone Emperor Zog." Goda turned around, eyes bloodshot and nostrils flaring, and for a moment Silver thought he would attack the Red Dreammaster. Then Mote began to speak, quietly, words that Silver was unable to hear. Goda's fists slowly lowered, and then he sat down on the floor. Mote continued to talk as Silver turned away and watched the door. A few moments later, Jade entered.

"What the hell is going on... oh." He took in the situation. "Black, I assume?"

"Yes, sir." Silver nodded. "Blue's death hit him rather hard, regardless of... well, you know."

"It would..." Jade sighed, shaking his head. "He always had the greatest trouble truly coming to grips with these things." The Gold Lord thought back to the night before, when Cort's last broadcast had come in.

_"It is as we expected." Cort's face in the puddle smiled. "He and his friends ripped my Flower-X to shreds. The transformation into an Ice Dragon, for him, was even more impressive than the norm." His smile faded. "Tomorrow, I shall challenge them myself. Certain factors have... made me question exactly what will happen. But in the end... we all know what the result will be. It is certain now. Red... Black... Silver... and Lord Jade... farewell. Tell White as well, when she returns." _And with that, Cort was gone, and the next time they saw him, it was his dead body in Silver's arms. Jade had gone to report the Blue Alchemist's death to Emperor Zog immediately, without considering Goda's likely reaction. Now, the Black Warrior was standing up and walking over to Jade, Mote at his side.

"What are Emperor Zog's orders?" Mote asked.

"As we expected them." Jade smirked. "The Red Dreammaster, Mote, is hereby commanded by his Emperor to return to the northwest and supervise the search for the Sky Key."

"No..." Goda rumbled. "Not him. I'll go... I want to take care of this myself..."

"Sorry, Black, but no." The Gold Lord shook his head. "It's not your time yet... Red, you're up. Do you know where the Sky Key is?"

"Not exactly, but I'm close." Mote's eyes gleamed. "However, we did find something else of interest while we were up there."

"I had forgotten..." Goda admitted. "It's the Master Digger, Lord Jade. The Mole Clanner. We found him before they did." Jade blinked in surprise.

"You did? He was in Gramor, then? Well, I'm not surprised he wasn't here... but why?"

"He's a child, that's why." Mote explained. "Only twelve years old. I've already arranged to start my turn... sent one of my pets after the kid. Ryu and company will have quite a time dealing with that."

"Better than Morteo, I hope?" Goda asked anxiously. "Sorry, but they got rid of him without much trouble from the reports." Mote rolled his eyes.

"Much stronger, Goda. I sent the pinnacle of my art in dream beasts... not like I'd use him for anything worse than this case. Ryu and his friends will feel bound to help the boy, even though they're not sure why, and that'll be a hassle. It'll buy me the time I need to find the Sky Key." His eyes dimmed. "I'll leave as soon as White returns and we put Blue to rest properly."

"White... does she know?" Silver asked. Jade shook his head.

"No... as usual when she's on one of her missions, she's cut all contact with Scande in order to make her cover more secure. She won't know what happened until she returns herself with the Time Key."

"The Time Key... at least that's one thing Ryu the Light Dragon won't mess with." Goda grunted, still unhappy. "Mote, you don't have to..."

"Yes, I do, Goda." Mote cut him off sharply. "We both know that... we all know that. Blue did his duty when it was his time. I can do no less. As soon as he's taken care of, I'm going. I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do to stop me." Turning, the Red Dreammaster left.

"Black..." Silver whispered. "It'll be all right... Red knows what he's doing."

"I hope so..." Goda's fists whitened. "For all our sakes, I hope so."

"More than ours." Jade corrected. "For everybody... and for destiny itself. But Red is one of us... the Tiamat Unit. He'll do what he has to." He straightened up. "Well, I'll be off... think I'll take the _Quincunx_ over to Tunlan, just in case. White might need a fast ride."

"So, why are we here again?" Deis asked. It had been several days since Cort's death. They had rested up in Gust and helped Tina see to the recovery of the afflicted people, and were now ready to move on. Before they did, however, Ryu had insisted that the group congregate in the local Dragon Temple.

"I think we need to have a word with our sponsor." Ryu frowned, bowing in front of the Statue. Everybody followed suit, silently thinking individual prayers. When they rose, Ladon was watching them.

"Something on your mind, Ryu?"

"With all respect, sir... we need to talk." The Light Dragon was scowling. "I'm starting to think there's more going on here than we know. And I'm not just talking about how we can't know the future until it happens and all that."

"Cort." Karn snapped his fingers. "I remember now... he said you talked to him too. And the rest of the Tiamat Unit too. I was wondering about that."

"What of it?" Ladon gave Ryu a direct look. "I am the God of both the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons, Ryu. Did you forget that? In particular, as Cort said, those ones are your opposites in this chapter of history. I give them instructions, as I do you."

"I see." Ryu nodded coldly. "And you instructed Cort all the way to his death. How do we know you don't have OUR deaths written down in your book of what's-going-to-happen?" Gobi started to talk, but Bo motioned for him to stay out of it. Ladon spread his hands helplessly.

"I can't tell you the future, Ryu. You know that."

"Do the Tiamat Unit know the future?" Ryu asked pointedly. Ladon was silent. "Right. Thanks for helping us so far, sir... but don't count on seeing us at prayer much in the future." Turning on his heel, Ryu left. Deis frowned and inclined her head after him.

"Go on... after him. I'll be out in a second." The others obliged. Sighing, the Sorceress of Wisdon shook her head. "That's not going to work... we both know it."

"Ryu is young... and very angry." Ladon smiled tolerantly. "He is still bound up in his hatred for the Dark Dragons. Give him time, and stay by his side... he will come around eventually." Deis nodded.

"As you will. See you later, then." She joined the others outside with no comment from anybody.

"So... where to now, boss?" Gobi asked after a few uncomfortable moments of silence.

"West, of course." Ryu growled. "We've still got a job to do, even if we're not doing it the way he wants us to anymore. Come on." He led them north, out of Gust. As they neared Cort's old fortress, where there were still Dark Dragon soldiers patrolling, he put a hand on his sword longingly, then shook his head and crossed the bridge. It took them a few days to clear the mountain range. As they left it, they crossed a river that made even Gobi wince at its speed.

"That right there is what's known as instant death to my people." The fat Maniro informed them.

"Yeah, but look north." Karn pointed. North of them, the river turned west; they would be walking alongside it for a while. On the other side, though, was a lush forest. Bo groaned.

"And THAT is what's known as infernal temptation to MY people. I'd give my quiver for that river to disappear." Unfortunately, the river didn't seem keen on accepting the offer. They walked beside it for the rest of the day and made camp where it turned north.

"If I remember my geography, the wasteland of Gramor is up ahead." Gobi informed them at dinner; pike from the river and bird from the skies thanks to Ryu and Bo, along with some apples Ox had punched loose from a tree. "It's the hereditary home of the Mole Clan. Unfortunately, we'll probably only find the children and elders there; all the adults capable of work are enslaved at Scande." Ryu's already-grumpy expression darkened even more, and he chewed his fish without a word.

"Ryu..." Nina said tentatively. "We... we knew all along Ladon would be helping the Dark Dragons too, didn't we? I mean... Belthasar was a Dark Dragon. And Zog and Jade... they both had to have completed the pilgrimage, right?"

"That doesn't excuse him, Nina." Ryu growled, unplacated. "These aren't just ordinary Dark Dragons we have a disagreement with we're talking about here. They're trying to resurrect the Goddess Myria, and rule the world. I don't see any way Ladon should be supporting that."

"Maybe he knows what he's doing better than we do." Nina persisted. "He hasn't killed us this far... and you'll need to see him again to complete the pilgrimage, right?"

"I'm not even sure I want to do THAT anymore." The Light Dragon shook his head. "Not if it means letting Ladon haul me up onto his chessboard again."

"But you'll NEED to." Nina's patience was starting to fray. "I don't think we'll be able to beat Zog and Jade unless you do. You have to, Ryu; it's your duty to the world." She groaned, too late, as she realized she had said exactly the wrong thing. Ryu smiled unpleasantly.

"Duty? Don't you talk to me about duty, Princess. If duty was that important, you never would have come with me in the first place. You'd still be back in Winlan like a good girl. Heh... might have been better if you had." He stood up and left the campfire. "I'm taking my watch. Come replace me in a couple hours, Bo; everybody else, don't bother me." Nina glared after him for a moment, then turned and flew away in a different direction. Karn started to follow her, but was restrained by Deis.

"Nuh-UH." The sorceress told him. "Bad move. Neither of them needs company right now. Leave 'em alone; she'll be back before too long." Several hours later, Nina did return. She took the watch from Bo without a word, then handed it over to Gobi later on before going to sleep.

Ryu and Nina refused to look at each other the next morning. They talked to the others normally, as if nothing was wrong, but it was if Ryu did not exist to Nina, and vice versa. This continued as they entered the Wasteland of Gramor. It was a huge inland valley; a humongous basin that stretched farther than the eye could see. One would think it would collect rainfall easily, but for some reason, the earth was instead cracked and hard. It wasn't dangerous like the desert of Arad; it was just... dead. There was almost no life; the most common plant seemed to be a cluster of lavender stalks taller than Ox. Nobody was interested in seeing how they tasted. The animals were even worse; the dominant monster was a shrieking, disembodied blue skull that would cast powerful spells if given the slightest chance. Nina's white magic could banish them quickly, but they were aggravating nonetheless.

On the third night in the Wasteland, near the center of it, Ryu was awakened at night by Ox, whose watch it was at the time.

"Uh... what?"

"Something happened, boss." Ox reported. "I suddenly saw a little girl... Mole Clan. She waved at me, then disappeared into a big hole in the ground. I think she wants us to follow her."

"And you remember where this hole is?" Ryu asked sharply, instantly wide awake. Ox nodded. "Good job. Come on, let's wake the others." Amid much grumbling and cursing, the others were awakened. Deis was particularly eloquent on the subject, pillaging several extinct languages for swear words. However, once Ox told them what he had seen, they reluctantly agreed that it needed to be checked out. The hole was a good ten feet wide, and had a ladder anchored into the wall. They all climbed (or flew) down without much trouble; even Deis, who somehow managed to move her tail down the rungs easily. The cavern below was like nothing they had ever seen. It was an entire underground town. Mushrooms that emitted light dangled from the ceiling at intervals. Long hallways stretched out, with smaller caves in the sides as individual dwellings. The Mole Clan girl Ox had seen was waiting in one of these. She was only about two feet tall, and she wore a grimy pink dress with a matching ribbon on her head. Seeing them, she curtsied and vanished into her homecave. The group exchanged looks, shrugged and followed.

It was a single common room; cooking equipment and several beds all shared space. Most of this, however, was not in use at the moment. Two of the inhabitants, the girl and an elderly female Mole Clanner, were standing next to a bed. The Mole Clan were a short species; even their tallest people rarely came above waist height of other Clans. They were covered entirely with short tan fur, but had no hair on their heads, although the females often wore wigs. And like their name suggested, they resembled moles, with huge digging claws. The last inhabitant was in the bed. He was a Mole Clanner boy, a few years older than the girl. His eyes were shut, and he made no movements, barely even breathing.

"Oh, thank Ladon!" The old lady smiled, seeing them. "Anne was right about seeing you."

"Do we... know you?" Karn asked tentatively. The old woman shook her head.

"No, but WE know of YOU... Ryu, the Light Dragon Hero, and his friends." She bowed on the floor, low. "Please, goodsirs and gentleladies... please, help my grandson!"

"What's the problem?" Nina asked. Deis sniffed the air, then frowned.

"Whatever it is... it isn't natual."

"No, it's not!" The old Mole Clanner's voice was angry now. "He's been asleep for a week now... thanks to Mote, the Red Dreammaster!"  
"Mote?" Ryu stared at her. "Why would Mote do this to an ordinary kid?"

"Mogu..." The little girl, Anne, spoke for the first time. "He accidentally saw Mote... making some kind of plans. He thought he escaped, but a few days later, he didn't wake up... he still hasn't."

"So he overheard Mote's plans." Ryu smiled with grim satisfaction. "Now that's the kind of help we DO need. All right, we'll do our best to wake the kid up. Any ideas, people?" None of the heroes spoke. The old lady coughed.

"Ahem... actually, I think I know what might work... but we cannot go ourselves. On an island called Tunlan... they have an artifact known as the Therapy Pillow."

"The Therapy Pillow! Of course!" Deis snapped her fingers. "I remember that now. It allows you to enter the world of a person's mind! That probably IS the only way to snap him out of it." Her face fell. "Only problem is... it's on Tunlan."

"Is that a problem?" Nina asked her. "Sure, it'll take time to get there, but..."

"It's a problem." Gobi assured her. "The Tunlaners... they're technically human, but their culture is entirely alien from the rest of the world, they're so isolated. They don't even speak the same language; theirs is entirely musical. Unless anybody understands it, we'll have about as much luck there as a trout in Arad."

"Again, we actually have that taken care of." The old lady held up what appeared to be a strange hood, with large cat ears on it. "Tunlan isn't the only place with a sacred artifact. This is the Magic Hood... it allows the wearer to understand any language, no matter how alien."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Bo shook his head in awe. "Very good, madame. Well, with that in mind... boss?"

"We head back the way we came tomorrow morning." Ryu decided. "From Gust, we hit Tunlan, get the Pillow, and come back here to fix up... Mogu, was it?" The old lady nodded.

"Yes. We would go ourselves, but the Dark Dragons don't allow us to leave Gramor. Thank you all so much... here, Anne will show you some rooms." The Mole Clanners' beds were simple, but comfortable, and all seven heroes were fast asleep very quickly.

"So the Mole Clan can't even leave Gramor?" Ryu asked. The heroes had made it back to the shore in record time, and were now riding the Gobi Express to Tunlan. Ox nodded sadly.

"Yeah... the old ones and children, at any rate. All the adults of working age are kept in Scande as slaves, and those who can't work aren't much better off alone in Gramor. It's a bad state... one of the worst things the Dark Dragons have done."

"And there's not even an invading army whose butts we can kick to make it go away." Bo sighed. "The Mole Clan's problem isn't going to be solved unless we get rid of the big nasties themselves." Karn shrugged, still cheerful.

"Well, one down, five to go. Six, if that guy in grey we saw haul Cort off really is some new Tiamat Unit recruit."

"It would fit that emblem." Nina reasoned. "That dragon had six heads... red, blue, black, white, gold, and silver... and the silver one on Cort's robes looked like a recent addition."

"So in addition to the rest, we'll have the Silver Something to deal with." Gobi griped. "Why can we never catch a break?"

"Karma for all the people you ripped off?" Deis smirked. "Hold it. Isn't that Tunlan, over there?"

"Yeah, that's it." Gobi corrected his course and pulled up to the single beach on the south side of the island. As they got off, he suddenly swung his tail around and smacked himself in the face with it, wincing.

"How did you-" Ryu blinked. "Never mind. What's wrong?"

"We forgot." Gobi grumbled. "We can HEAR them talk fine... but how do we talk BACK?"

"The flute!" Nina snapped her fingers. "But I can't play... anybody else?" The others looked at each other and shrugged. Karn slowly raised a hand.

"I can. Elder Khel insisted I learn it... said it was in case I became a world traveller. Now I know he was probably talking about this place."

"So THAT's why you insisted we take the flute from the old guy back in Gust!" Bo snapped his fingers. "That old Mole Clanner lady isn't the only one who thinks two steps ahead. Not bad at all, Karn. Looks like you're our official translator."

"And I was so looking forward to one of the girls wearing the cat ears." Karn joked, tying the straps of the hood under his chin and striking a pose. "How do I look?"

"Just adorable. Let's go." Deis smirked. "You first. Remember, people, the Time Key is here too. Let's try and pick that up while we're here as well." Muttering good-naturedly, Karn led the group up onto Tunlan. The island couldn't have been more than five miles across in any direction. It was heavily slanted; the beach at the south went uphill to the palace at the north end. The climate was beautiful; lush green palm trees and sandy shores gradually were replaced by beautiful tiers of tile buildings. Each level of buildings was built onto the rear roofs of the level below it, and rivers flowed down in strategic places forming waterfalls, with actual ducks swimming in them. The entire island was one huge work of art.

"This is it." Bo told everybody. "This is where I am retiring. All we're missing is fancy drinks... and swimsuits. Especially for the girls. Think we can get some in town?"

"Maybe they'll have a shirt louder than Gobi for you." Deis countered. "And a flower necklace. Although I do agree with you on the tropical drinks. They had 'em last time I was here; hope they still do."

"And how long ago was that?" Karn asked, adjusting his hood. "Also, if you've been here before, why can't YOU be our translator?"

"I left my accordion back in Wisdon, and do you really want to know?" Deis asked bluntly. Karn shrugged.

"Probably not, and I'm not even going to ask what an accordion is. Ah, there's a native. I'll try to say hi." It was a young girl, dressed in a turquoise leotard somewhat like Nina's, with a bow of the same color in her hair. It looked like the standard method of garb in Tunlan, along with a flute. Smiling, she played a series of notes.

"Hello, and welcome to Tunlan." Karn translated before responding with a shorter version. The native girl seemed happily surprised as she played a different tune. "Your flute is a masterwork! Where are you from?" Karn thought for a moment, then played a suitable response. The girl laughed before responding. "You're new to our language, aren't you?" Karn scratched his head ruefully before continuing the conversation. The girl nodded and pointed towards the palace while she spoke. Excited, Karn fluted back immediately, and they continued talking without translations for a few minutes until Karn nodded to them. "Right, let's go up."

"What were you two talking about?" Bo asked. Karn was grinning brighter than a sunrise.

"How would you like to know exactly where the Therapy Pillow is? AND the Time Key?" The cheeky thief pointed towards the palace. "In the west wing, there's big vault where they keep both of those, as well as assorted other national treasures. Heavily guarded, of course, but a master thief like myself should do fine."

"We're just going to steal them?" Nina asked, obviously disapproving. "That's-"

"That's great, Karn." Ryu cut her off deliberately, smiling. "Anything we can do to help?" Karn shook his head.

"Nothing personal, boss, but you'd just get in the way. You guys go hunt up some of those tropical drinks Deis was talking about. I'll be back with the loot soon." He quickly moved off towards the palace.

"That was low of Ryu." Deis commented to Bo as the group moved off in search of a Tunlan bar. The Forest Clanner nodded, looking at Nina's scowl.

"Yeah, it was, even if he did have a point. I wouldn't suggest getting involved, though." Deis emphatically shook her head.

"Hell no. I didn't live this long by doing stupid things like that. You?"

"Do I look like the Black Warrior?" Bo inquired rhetorically, folding his arms. "I'll tell you this, though; this can't go on, or they'll screw everything up."

"When you come up with a plan to fix things that doesn't have a prohibitively high risk of you getting killed, be sure to tell me." Deis responded dryly. "In the meantime, though, that looks like a bar. Let's check it out." It was a bar, as it turned out; however, their translator was gone, and none of them wanted to risk trying to imitate the few sounds they had heard for fear of accidentally stumbling into the local curse words. People were talking all over the bar. Flutes seemed to be favorable for the women, while the men mainly used violins, but here and there other instruments could be seen. After about an hour, Karn came stumping into the bar, a foul look on his face. He immediately ordered drinks for all of them without greeting his friends.

"I take it it didn't go well." Ryu guessed. Karn scowled deeper.

"That girl didn't know the half of it. They've got these huge monster statues... we're talking more muscles than you, Ox. You TOUCH the vault, and these guys spring to life and herd you into a trapdoor that dumps you OFF the back of the island. Damn, am I glad I had my Gills. That kind of gear just isn't fair." Their drinks arrived, each one a different color.  
"So, what do we do now?" Bo asked, taking a tentative sip of his. It was a bright, almost neon green, but good.

"Socialize and pick up information, I guess." Deis downed her dark purple drink and signalled for a refill. "Maybe somebody else'll know the trick."

"Yeah, yeah..." Karn sighed. "And be 'we' you all mean 'me.' Just give me a moment." A couple tropical drinks as banana-yellow as his clothes later, Karn moved off. When he returned, he seemed to be simultaneously on the verge of laughing hysterically and breaking everything in sight.

"So, what's up?" Gobi asked. Karn shrugged casually.

"Oh, lots. Stuff about the how great the Therapy Pillow is, stuff about how great the Time Key is, several compliments on my flute, not so many on my skill using it... and a very disturbing piece of local politics. You might want to put down your drinks." The others obliged. "Okay. Get this: The local Princess-to-be-Queen-upon-her-eighteenth-birthday, Archne. She's got the hots for... wait for it... Emperor Zog."

"WHAT THE _HELL_, LADON!" Ryu demanded of the universe in general, outraged, startling many nearby patrons of the bar in the process. Karn nodded bleakly and downed another drink in one shot.

"Yeah, I had to strain not to have a similar reaction. At least most of the people around here seem to agree with us... Archne's not a popular ruler right now. Problem is, she doesn't have to be popular. And she's the only one who knows how to open that vault."

"Just great." Ryu groaned. "What's next, one of the Tiamat Unit showing up here?"

"Well, one guard gave me the fish eye while I was in the palace, but that was it." Karn shrugged, then spoke to Nina in a lower voice. "Don't turn around, but there's some people watching you-don't! Just kinda glance towards that mirror in front of you... yeah." The people behind them were two old women and one much younger one. The old women wee unremarkable, but the younger one definately got everybody's attention. She was a Wing Clanner, and she looked for all the world like she could be Nina's older sister. She even wore a similar leotard, though it was blue with a matching headband. One of the old women approached and began talking to Karn excitedly. Karn turned to Nina. "She wants to know if you have any missing relatives."

"No... but that is uncanny." Nina admitted. "Who is she?" Karn relayed the question, then listened to the response.

"Apparently, she fell from the sky almost a year ago." He translated. "She has amnesia... no memories of her past whatsoever. The old women have been taking care of her, but they haven't found anybody who knows her." Shrugging, the old woman returned to her friends. Karn sighed and pushed his glass away. "Well, we should probably get going to the palace... we'll have to head there to get anything done. Maybe SOMEbody there can help us."

"Worth a shot." Ryu agreed. They left the bar, Deis very reluctantly, and Karn led them up to the palace. The guards let them pass easily; security seemed very casual in Tunlan, although the spears they held looked very sharp. As they walked down the entrance hallway, another old woman passed, garbed in rich green robes and mumbling to herself on a set of weathered panpipes. Karn looked at her sharply.

"Translation?" Ryu pressed.

"Something along the lines of 'What am I to do with the Princess? It's my fault, I didn't teach her right.' Let's ask further." Karn delivered a note that was unmistakably a "Hey!" The old woman turned, and Karn asked something. Her response seemed friendly but strained. "She wants to know what we want."

"Ah, your friends do not speak our language." The old woman said haltingly. Her accent was terrible, but she was nonetheless speaking the common language. Ryu covered his surprise with a respectful bow.

"We do indeed, madame...?"

"Callis, advisor and regent to Princess Archne, until she reaches adulthood in less than a month." The old woman introduced herself. "And you...?" Bo quickly introduced them all before Ryu could say anything about Nina.

"We're looking for... well, a tool to enter the world of dreams, your Grace." He continued. Callis blinked.

"A tool to... are you talking about the Therapy Pillow?" She frowned in thought. "Well... hm. Let me think... ah!" She smiled. "I'll tell you what. I have a little... problem. If you help me solve it, you can use the Therapy Pillow. Sound fair?"

"Would this problem involve the Princess and Emperor Zog, by any chance?" Gobi remarked. Callis nodded, unsurprised.

"You've heard the rumors, I see. Yes, that's it exactly. Of all the men in the world, she chooses Zog!" She clenched her fist until it was white. "Such foolishness will only bring chaos for Tunlan. I think the Dark Dragons have an agent in here... but try as I might, I haven't been able to find it. It seems Zog has promised her eternal youth, which Myria can grant."

"Myria!" Nina yelped. "Wait... is she going to hand the Time Key over to them?"

"You see the problem." Callis nodded grimly. "I've been holding her off as long as I can with what authority I have as regent, but once she becomes Queen... it's imperative that the Time Key be gone by then!"

"The problem is the vault in which both the Key and the Pillow are stored." Ryu frowned. "Only she knows how to open it, correct?"

"Yes, but I do know something." Callis' eyes narrowed. "You see, the way to open that vault is passed down the royal line... but Archne always was a forgetful girl, and when her mother died, she was afraid she wouldn't remember. So she tattooed the combination for the lock on her back."

"Ah..." Gobi smiled. "So if we can get a look at her..." He blinked as both Nina and Deis glared at him. "What? We have to! It's the only way to get the Key!"

"Gobi's right." Karn said piously. "Though we would never stoop to spying on a young lady under normal circumstances, we must put aside our better instincts for the sake of the world."

"Right." Deis snorted. "Just don't make it a habit... if either me or Nina EVER catches any of you trying that on us, you'll be hanging from your shorts by the highest point in the local town." Bo winked at Karn and Gobi.

"Us? Never!"

"If we could get back on subject..." Ryu coughed. "All right. When would be the best time to do this?"

"The Princess bathes every night as soon as the sun sets." Callis told them. "Be back here then... I'll clear all the guards out of that area. I'm an old lady, and my years of stealth are gone, but at least one of you should know how to move quietly. You see the combination, and we'll get down to the safe and get the Key and Pillow out right away."

"Gotcha." Ryu nodded. "We'll be back at sunset."

"Come on, everybody." Ryu called. "It's sunset. Let's go."

"I still can't believe we're doing this now." Deis complained. "What happened to the tropical drinks? You're supposed to relax when you're at Tunlan, not get caught up in complicated plans to rob the royalty."

"Tell you what." Gobi smiled. "When we're done with this whole save-the-world shtick, we'll come back here, and I'll buy enough tropical drinks for us to party for a month." He winked at Ryu. "I'll be able to afford it after a certain debt is paid off, after all!"

"You're a laugh riot." Ryu rolled his eyes. "Can we get going now?" Tunlan at night was not all that much different from Tunlan in the day; there seemed to be just as many people on the streets. When they entered the palace, Callis was waiting for them.

"About time you got here." The old lady grumbled. "Right, this way." She led them up to the second story of the palace, and over to the west wing. "The royal baths are in there. I'll be waiting by the vault... it's down below this spot." She quickly left down a flight of stairs. Karn gently eased open the door. There was a line of palm trees in front of them with a path leading to the left. Motioning to the others to stay there, Karn slipped forward and peeked through the trees without making a sound. Several seconds passed, and then he slipped back, smiling. The heroes silently stepped back out and closed the door.

"Hey, you!" An angry female voice challenged them. Everybody jumped and turned left to see a guard marching towards them. She was a beautiful woman with golden hair wearing a white cape, but the armor she wore and the sword at her side were all business, as was the glare on her face. "You in the banana skins. You're that guy I saw sneaking around earlier today... and I've never seen the rest of you around here before. Explain yourselves!" Ryu started to reply, but Nina already had it covered.

"Excuse me?" The Wing Clan princess was the picture of arrogance. "I am Princess Nina of Windia, here on an ambassadorial mission! Is it customary on this island for the security to interrogate visiting royalty?" The guard took a step back, then frowned.

"And these ruffians?"

"These 'ruffians' are my entourage." Nina gave the guard a glare of pure ice. "Regent Caliss and Princess Archne shall hear of this, I promise you. Now begone, and leave us in peace!" The guard reluctantly left, watching them out of the corner of her eye the entire time. Once she was gone, Karn let out a sigh of relief.

"Thought we had bought it there for a moment. Good job, Nina. That's the guard who was watching me earlier today, in case you couldn't tell."

"Oh, we could tell." Ox smirked. "So, did you see what you needed to?"

"Depends on your definition of what I needed to see." Karn joked. "She had her back to me the entire time, and she was in the water up to her waist, so I didn't get to see anything interesting at all. She was a real hottie, too..."

"Hello?" Deis rapped him on the head. "The tattoo?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, I saw that." Karn assured her. "From left to right, three stars. Different colors. First one blue, second one red, third one white."  
"Good." Ryu nodded. "Let's move tail to that vault before she gets out or that guard comes back." The group followed the path Callis had taken down the stairs and soon found her standing in front of a huge iron door with a bizzarre lock on it. The gargoyle statues Karn had mentioned were standing to the sides; four of them, and they were indeed bigger and tougher-looking than Ox.

"Well, did you see the markings?"

"Blue, red and white stars. Left to right." Bo told her. Callis grined jubilantly.

"Excellent! Now, I just have to align the lock properly..."

"Won't the statues move?" Karn asked, a bit nervous. Callis shook her head even as she turned around.

"The lock's the one part of the vault that won't make them move... as long as you don't take too long." She pushed in three buttons on the lock. "Right, then... now we just wait until the door opens." Several tense second passed, and nothing happened. Callis bit her lip. "Doesn't seem to be working."

"Hey..." Gobi frowned. "I just had a thought. Princess Archne put those there so she wouldn't forget the combination, right?" Callis nodded.

"Yeah... so?"

"So, if they're on her back, how does she see them?" The fat Maniro pressed. Ox shrugged.

"A mirror, I guess... or some reflective water... of course, the image... would... be... backwards..."

"...Crap." Karn muttered as the statues all sprang to life. "Get ready to go swimming, people..." But the statues didn't herd them off. They surrounded them from all sides.

"The statues behave differently when you mess with the lock." Callis explained darkly. "Damn... we're for it now." They heard footsteps, and then the statues parted revealing Princess Archne and four guards. The princess of Tunlan, as Karn had put it, was a knockout; at the moment, she was wearing a fuschia leotard with strange winglike attachments on the back. She looked furious.

"You see, your majesty? It is just as I told you! Spies and thieves!" One of the guards yelled triumphantly. It was the one that had caught them earlier. But Archne's eyes were on Callis.

"What is the meaning of this, Regent?"

"Come to your senses, Archne!" Callis snapped. "The meaning of this is trying to save Tunlan from your foolishness!"

"Foolishness?" Archne stared at her. "You dare! I will be Queen of Tunlan, not you! And when the Goddess Myria is revived, I shall be Empress of the world, and I and Zog will be young forever!"

"You stupid-" Ryu started to yell, but Callis cut him off.

"Stop, Light Dragon! This is not your responsibility!" She glared at Archne like a disapproving schoolteacher. "We all grow old, Archne. You can't stop it. Not even Myria can stop it for you."

"I've heard enough of this." Archne laughed coldly. "Seize them all!" Callis sighed.

"You leave us no choice, then." She turned to Ryu. "I'm sorry, but... you'll have to take both the Therapy Pillow and the Key by force."

"To be honest, madame, that's the way we do things best anyways." Ox shrugged, cracking his knuckles. "Deis, the door's yours."

"Leave it to me!" Deis smiled. "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's blowing things up!"

"Get them!" Archne shrieked, and the three guards lunged forward. Deis turned to the door.

"Wait!" Nina tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"YAAH!" Deis howled with glee as a series of mighty explosions from the air itself rocked the door. There was a blinding explosion as it toppled. "Come on, Ryu! Get the Key! OOF!" The guards didn't look like much, but they hit like ten tons of bricks. Everybody went down.

"Don't let them take that Key!" Archne yelled. Nina bit off an unprincessly word and tried to shove one of the guards off of her, failing.

"What a mess!"

"Aha! The Key!" A female voice yelled. It wasn't Nina. Or Deis. Or Callis. Or even Archne. The smoke from the explosion cleared, and everybody saw the Time Key being held by... the guard who had caught the heroes.

"Zog's messenger!" Callis realized.

"Messenger? Oh, much more than that, old woman." The guard laughed, throwing aside her helmet and letting her hair fall back onto her cape. Her face took up a cruel smile. "I am Cerl, the White Assassin of the Tiamat Unit." She turned to Ryu and saluted mockingly. "We who have no past and no future salute you, Light Dragon Ryu."

"Good, Cerl!" Archne ran up. "Now that you have the Key, let us return to Scande together!" Cerl smiled. And with a flick of her hand, sent Archne flying into a wall.

"Fool!" The White Assassin laughed. "The Dark Dragons have no use for you! Oh, and by the way, Emperor Zog's already been married." She smirked at the Princess. "Widower, actually, and no intention of remarrying. Sorry to disappoint you, your highness."

"But... you promised me eternal youth..." Archne stumbled forward, deperate. Deis grunted, squirmed out from under a guard and stood in her path.

"Don't be pathetic!"

"You wouldn't understand!" Archne wailed. "You're already old! Look at you!"

"Uh-oh..." Bo muttered. Deis' eyes seemed to glow red.

"What did you say!"

"Ahem..." Cerl walked up to the two of them. "You seem to have forgotten you just LOST the Key..." Karn escaped the guards as well.

"Get the Key, quick!" He yelled, running forward. Deis shook her head, still glaring at Archne.

"This is more important! This brat makes Nina look like a model of modesty!"

"Excuse ME!" Now Nina was flying over. "Now hold on just a moment! I'm not anywhere NEAR this obnoxious! You shouldn't even compare us!" Now Archne whirled on her.

"Obnoxious? Who do YOU think you are?"  
"That tears it!" Yelling, Cerl dived on Archne at the same time as Nina and Deis. All the males and the guards just stared, openmouthed, as the four women fought blindly, not caring who they hit.

"You know, normally they'd sell tickets for this kind of thing, but right now..." Gobi shook his head in wonder. Ryu grunted.

"Yeah. Hey! Nina, Deis, cut it out!" But the Princess and the Sorceress weren't listening. The first one to leave the fight was, instead, the White Assassin, slipping out without being noticed by the other three or most of the watchers.

"Well, there's a diversion if I ever saw one. I'll let you discuss this amongst yourselves! I'm outta here!" Starting to leave, she almost ran straight into Karn. Instantly, she had a dagger heading for his neck, but it was knocked aside by the one the young thief held.

"Not bad, but not good enough to fool me." Karn frowned. Now all the spectators were watching. Quick as a lightning bolt, Karn went for Cerl's other hand, the one that held the Goddess Key. Cerl grabbed his arm with her free hand and flipped him into a wall. Karn twisted in midair, planted his feet against the wall and rebounded towards Cerl, who ducked at the last moment, deflecting his knife with another one of her own. Karn landed behind her and spun around, then dodged left to avoid the thrown knife. Both of them stopped moving, waiting for the other to act again.

"So, you're the one who did this to Archne?" Callis yelled. Cerl smirked at her, still keeping her eyes on Karn.

"That's right. We needed the Time Key before these 'heroes' came here for it. So I fed her lies about Zog wanting her as a wife. The fool!" She laughed coldly. "Zog and the Tiamat Unit have all seven places for the ceremony filled! There's no place for HER!"

"Six, you mean." Gobi growled. "I take it you DID get a new member, then, but your count for the Unit's back down to five again. We ran into Cort already, and he was very dead when we left him."

"What!" Now Cerl stared at him, startled. Instantly, Karn went for the Key, but she recovered and dodged. "Ha! Nice try, but no good! For a moment, I almost believed you!"

"He's telling the truth." Ox said simply. "Cort is dead. We killed him. You'll discover this for yourself if you make it back to Scande."

"We'll see." Cerl smiled again. "But for now, I must bit you adieu. The time is not right for us to fight, even if what you say is true. Until we meet again, Prince of Thieves!" Blowing a mocking kiss at Karn, she dropped something that exploded in grey smoke. Everybody coughed and choked.

"Where is she?" Ryu demanded.

"Gone." Karn spat, disgusted. "Probably already out of the palace."

"Guards, help me!" Archne was yelling. "Don't let these two get away!" Obediently, the guards jumped off the guys and dived into the fray. Callis was dragged in as well, and now with the smoke, nobody could tell what was going on, except that it was noisy.

"Should we...?" Ox asked. Ryu shook his head, standing up.

"With this stuff, we'd probably hit our friends. We'll pull them off when this clears."

"You kidding?" Deis, hearing them, yelled. "This is great! I haven't had a barroom brawl like this in centuries!" A guard's fist caught her on the side of the head, and she staggered, then smiled. "Aha! Now I remember how that spell goes!"  
"What was that!" Nina yelled, horrified. "Wait, don't!"

"No, hold on!" Karn yelled as well. But the Sorceress of Wisdon would not be detained.

"Chill out, everybody!" Ryu had a brief vision of snowflakes, thousands of them filling the air, and then everything was cold and black.

"Ugh..." Ryu slowly opened his eyes. He was lying in what seemed to be a hospital. In beds nearby him were Archne and the three guards. The rest of the group was watching him, Nina in particular. Before he could say something, the Princess spoke.

"About time. We were about to leave without you." Ryu scowled. Deis turned to her.

"All right, enough of that. BOTH of you, don't even get started."

"Yeah." Karn shook his head. "You just got too close, boss. Nina got out of the way in time, and the rest of us were out of range."

"And these others?" Ryu indicated the guards and Archne. "How are they?"

"Banged up, but they'll live." Bo shrugged. "More importantly, how are you?"

"Better, actually." Ryu thought for a moment, then sighed. "But Cerl got away with the Time Key, didn't she." Gobi nodded.

"Basically, yeah. I'm starting to think that whenever we meet up with one of the Tiamat Unit, they'll always kick our butts royally the first time around."

"Quite possible." Karn shrugged, acting nochalant. "But that's beside the point. We'll catch up to her eventually. More importantly, do you remember why we came here in the first place?"

"The Therapy Pillow!" Ryu smacked his forehead. "Of course, our chances of her highness actually letting us have it are about the same as a Slime's chances inside an active volcano."

"You'd be surprised, actually." Callis said as she entered the room. She nodded approvingly at seeing Ryu up. "On your feet already, eh? Princess Archne isn't the same, unfortunately... she's sleeping right now. But when she's awake, well... it looks like she's learned her lesson, even though the Key's gone." Callis shook her head. "She'd make a good Queen now... a shame the Dark Dragons will be reviving Myria."

"The Dark Dragons won't be reviving anybody, your grace." Ryu pulled out the four Goddess Keys in their possession. "They need all seven... and we have no intention of handing these puppies over, believe me."

"The..." Callis stared at the Keys, then him. "Ryu... your name is Ryu! THE Ryu! How could I have been so blind as to not see it before? You're the Light Dragon hero who liberated the lands of the east!"

"Ahem. Light Dragon hero AND company." Gobi reminded her. "Minor points aside, though, that's us all right."  
"Well, I'm sure Archne won't mind you taking the Therapy Pillow now." Callis shook her head in astonishment.

"Does it help that we eventually intend to beat the crap out of the White Assassin?" Deis winked, and Callis laughed.

"Most likely! Go on, take the Pillow. I'd come with you, but I have to stay with the Princess."

"To the vault, then!" Karn crowed, leading the way. As they walked down the halls, unchallenged by any guards, Ryu drew over to Bo.

"Hey, Bo... is it just me, or is Karn behaving a bit odd?"

"You noticed, eh?" Bo nodded. "He's trying to hide it, but I think he was taken aback by what happened with Cerl back there. She out-thiefed him on all accounts, and I don't think that's happened to Karn in years." Ryu frowned.

"Anything we can do, you think?"

"Nah." Bo shook his head. "Just give him some time... he'll come around. However... there is something you should know, boss." He gave Ryu a direct look. "I know what's been going on between you and Nina, and I know what she said when you woke up, but the entire time you were out, she was watching you like a hawk. Refused to budge from the room for even a minute."

"Huh." Ryu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Wierd. Idunno, Bo."

"Just thought you should hear about that. Here's the vault." Bo whistled. "Wow... don't remember it being THIS bad." The entire vault door and the backs of the side walls were completely totalled, lying in chunks of rubble all over the floor. Karn gingerly stepped over them and picked up a very fancy-looking pillow. It was stuffed almost to bursting, and embroidered all over with various fancy patterns.

"This has to be it."

"No doubt about it." Ryu nodded. "That's the Therapy Pillow, all right. Okay, people, we got what we came for. Shame about the Time Key, but we can't win 'em all. Let's get back to Gramor."

"Oh, no you don't." Ox shook his head. "Not just yet, boss. You and Nina both need some more rest bad, and the rest of us could do with it too."

"Big man's right." Deis nodded. "We stay in Tunlan one more day. I think we all deserve a little time off here. Relax, have more tropical drinks, catch some sun. Maybe even get some swimsuits like Bo suggested. Then the next morning, we get moving back towards the northwest bright and early. Who's with me?" Ox, Bo, Karn and Gobi all pumped their fists enthusiatically.

"I do believe I have been overruled." Ryu commented, not really displeased.

"Seems that way." Nina agreed. "Ah well, we could use a short break anyways if they're going to insist."

"Guess so." Ryu nodded. They both smiled, and for a moment, it looked as if they were on good terms again, but then both let the smiles drop and turned away simultaneously. Bo silently slapped his face, then caught Deis' eye. She nodded in exasperated agreement.

"To the Inn, then! And then the bar!" Gobi yelled happily, unnoticing and uncaring. The heroes followed him, each of them thinking about different things. The streets of Tunlan they passed by didn't notice either, nor did they care; Tunlan was unchanged, and would remain so even after news of the Time Key's theft became widespread.

"What's that old saying?" Ox muttered. "Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here?"

"That's Tunlan, all right." Deis agreed. "It's the world's greatest vacation spot, but you don't want to stay for too long. Nothing ever changes here... this place is exactly the same as it was centuries ago. And I'm in a position to know. Come on, let's nap." As they were about to enter the Inn, however, they heard a very strange musical instrument inside. It sounded like a cacophany of ducks being caught in a blender, and yet there was something melodious, a definate musical quality about it.

"What IS that?" Bo wondered. Deis strained to listen.

"Bagpipes? I haven't heard those in ages... but who?" The Inn door swung open, and everybody groaned simultaneously. It was Uncle Specs.

"I should have known." Ryu muttered. "I should have known that if anybody played an instrument that sounded like that, it would be you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Uncle Specs said by way of greeting, setting aside his instrument, which was a plaid-colored sack with several pipes sticking out of it at various angles. "Well, maybe to Prima but that's by the get-tossed-off-the-island method. Usually implemented by security. Happened to me three times already. Or was that Wisdon, I don't remember. I wonder why?"

"How did I know I hadn't seen the last of you after I threw you off Wisdon." Deis shook her head, amused. "So your name's 'Uncle Specs,' huh? Well, it works as well as any."

"It durn well better! That's what I designed it for!" The old nutjob cackled. "If it doesn't, I'll just have to whack it with a wrench until it works again. That's how you gotta deal with electronics, you know. Give 'em a good thrashing. That'll teach it." Uncle Specs nodded, apparently trying to look wise-again-and succeeding more in resembling a drunk that was on the verge of passing out. For all the heroes knew, he probably was.

"So, what brings you to Tunlan?" Nina asked cheerfully, trying to change the subject. Uncle Specs winked at her.

"I heard the Therapy Pillow was up for grabs, so I figgered I'd come down here and bid on it in the auction! Got two ducks and a nickel to put up for it, so I like my chances. Always wanted to see what it looked like inside my own head!"

"Why would you need two... no. Don't ask." Bo reminded himself. "Never ask him for clarification. Anyways, you're too late, I'm afraid. We've got the Pillow."

"Tarnation." Uncle Specs muttered in disappointment. "Really wanted that. Now I'll never know if I've really got all sorts of butterflies in the belfry."

"You mean bats, don't you?" Karn corrected him. The old nutjob rounded on him.

"Nonsense, sonny! Bats and butterflies aren't nothing alike! Well, whatever you use that thing for, be careful. You get blown up in there and you'll be a turnip out here! I forget whether it's physical or mental, but either way's bad! I think. Anyways, be careful, especially if you're using it on yourselves! Your heads're probably more dangerous than mine!"

"Wait. Are you saying you think we're crazier than you are?" Ryu asked, incredulous. Uncle Specs winked and tipped his hat, picking his bagpipes back up.

"Well, you don't see ME picking fights with the entire Dark Dragon army, do you? See ya!" Playing his bagpipes again, he waltzed off, stopping only for a brief boxing match with his shadow, which he lost.

"So, do you see that guy often or something?" Deis asked. Ryu sighed and smiled.

"Yeah, every so often. Think this is the fourth time. He's harmless and sometimes even helpful, though, so we don't mind."

"An interesting fellow, to be sure." Another voice agreed with Ryu. From some shadows behind the inn, a tall man walked out. It was the mysterious cloaked guy who had advised them on the GrimFowl, back near Gant. He was completely obscured, as before, although this time his clothes were a bright, flaming red.

"Is this some kind of convention for mysterious wierdos?" Gobi wondered. "I'm just asking here. Is it?"

"Ha ha ha..." The cloaked man laughed. "No, not at all. I just came to see the Wing Clan girl here..."

"You know her?" Nina asked. The cloaked man nodded.

"You could say that, yes. She has amnesia, you know... poor thing. I came to suggest to her caretakers that they go to Spring... there's a doctor there who's a genius with curing amnesia."

"Is that so?" Gobi smiled. "Well, I hope it works out for her. Nice seeing you again." The cloaked man seemed to smile.

"Same to you. Good luck in the future." Walking into the night, he was gone. Ryu looked after him for a moment, then shrugged.

"Well, whatever. Come on, let's go in. I REALLY need a drink."

When the group returned to the Gramor Wasteland, the little Mole Clan girl, Anne, was waiting for them. Upon seeing them, she smiled and waved.

"Do you have it?" She asked quickly. Ryu nodded.

"We've got it right here. Lead the way." Nodding, Anne took them back to the room where Mogu was staying. The old Mole Clan woman looked up as they entered, and immediately saw the Therapy Pillow as Ryu took it out of his pack.

"Thank Ladon... you have it. Do you know how to use it?"

"Not exactly." Ryu admitted. The old woman took it and pressed it against Mogu's forehead, then gestured for them to walk over and place their hands on it. Ryu did, and immediately, they began sinking into the pillow, like it was water. Shrugging, Ryu dived forward, and vanished completely. As he fell, he heard the old woman saying something and the others following him, but he was unable to make out exactly what the words were. Everything began shimmering, and then he was falling out of the sky. With a loud grunt, he landed on a bed inside a building. "Huh. Well, looks like I've arrived."

"Oof!" Nina wheezed as she landed. She and Ryu took one look at each other, and then both scrambled out of the bed as if it was on fire, blushing furiously. Bo was next; he stared at them, dazed, without moving until Deis landed after him.

"Uh! Hm..." She smirked at Bo. "Well, this is cozy. A bit sudden, though, don't you think?" Somehow, Bo managed to blush as well through his fur as they both climbed out as well. Ox was next, almost flattening the bed under his weight, and then Karn, who was actually caught in Ox's arms. Surveying the faces on everybody around them, Karn quickly realized what had happened and winked at Ox.

"Heh... my hero?" Ox responded by dropping the young thief on his butt and climbing off. Gobi was last; nobody caught him. As he stood up as well, muttering something about sueing for whiplash, two Mole Clanners approached. One was familiar; strangely, it was Anne. The other was an old male with a thick white mustache and even thicker eyebrows.

"Who are you? Where do you come from?" The old man asked. "Wait. Did you come here via the Therapy Pillow?"

"That'd be it." Ryu agreed. "Who are you, and what is Anne doing here?"

"You met me in the outside world, then?" The girl realized, pleased. "I'm not really Anne... I'm Mogu's memory of him, as is Elder Dugron here. Everything here is some part of Mogu's mind... well, almost everything."  
"Almost?" Deis raised an eyebrow, all business again. Elder Dugron nodded.

"Yes. There is an intruder here... a dream beast that is warping everything it touches. Mogu's mind has been horribly affected by... well, here. See for yourself." He and Anne walked out of the building, and the heroes followed them. Outside was a small cluster of houses. The ground was soft dirt, or had been once; now, sharp rocks protruded from it like a minefield. Twin fountain in the center spewed noxious purple liquid. And wandering around was... Mogu. Several of him, each wearing clothes of a different color and a white turban.

"Okay, this is just getting bizarre." Gobi commented. One of the Mogus overheard him and rounded on the Maniro.

"Who you calling bizzarre, bub? I'll knock that fishy grin right off your face!"

"Whoa, easy there, Mogu." Ox cautioned him. "We came here to help." The small Mole Clanner glared up at him.

"I'm not Mogu, you big blockhead! I'm his Anger!"

"Oh, don't talk to him." Another Mogu walked up. "Anger can't solve any problems."

"Like you're any better, Reason!" Anger spat. "You just sit around trying to make us all do what you say all day! Ha!"

"It's not like we can do anything right now." Reason shrugged. "Mogu will be whole only when all of us are reunited, and since Courage left..."

"Oh, give me a break, both of you!" A third Mogu smirked. "With your arguing, you're almost getting as bad as Fear!"

"Come on, Humor." A fourth, apparently Fear, mumbled. "I WANT to go after the dream beast, but..."

"But you're too scared!" Humor threw back his head and laughed. "Come on, guys! This is no good! You should be like me; don't worry, be happy!"

"The attitude of an idiot." Reason shook his head, and Anger shoved him.

"Watch it, pal! He's doing more than you are! Heck, Sorrow does more than YOU!"

"Leave me out of it..." Sorrow, a fifth one, muttered from behind a hourse. "We're useless without Courage... what's the point of these arguments?"

"He's got a point, you know." Fear agreed nervously, and now Anger rounded on him.

"Now you're agreeing with them too? Ugh!"

"I begin to see the problem." Ryu rolled his eyes. None of the Mogus were paying any attention to the group now, so it was safe. "How many of these guys are there?"

"Six... well, there's supposed to be." Anne looked sad. "Unfortunately, shortly after things started getting this bad, Courage disappeared. Nobody's been able to find him since, and without him, Mogu..."

"The monster's up in the north tower." Elder Dugron pointed out of the town. For the first time, everybody noticed the sky. It was a sea of dark, roiling purple clouds, always in motion. In the real world, it would be signifying a terrible storm, but here, there was not even a small rumble of thunder.

"THAT's not too wierd." Karn commented. More importantly, though, was a tower that they could all see against the sky, rising from the earth like a stalgmite.

"That tower... it's the center of Mogu's mind." Elder Dugron explained. "The dream beast is there... and we think he has Courage with him."

"Then we know where to go." Bo smiled grimly. "You've probably guessed this already, but we came here to kick that thing's butt and get Mogu conscious again. We'll take care of things."

"If Courage is there, the dream beast will have to be keeping a very close eye on him." Anne told them. "Left alone, Courage would be able to use the tower to turn everything around on the dream beast."  
"Gotcha. We'll watch out for him." Ryu promised. "You two just keep the rest of these from killing each other until we get back."

"Can do." Anne nodded. "Would you like to say a prayer to Ladon before you go? There's a Shrine over there..."

"No, thanks." Ryu's face hardened. "We aren't on very good terms with Ladon right now. If you'll excuse us." Turning, he led the others out of the cluster of houses, ignoring Dugron's and Anne's stares on their backs.

The world of Mogu's mind was nothing even approaching reality. The earth was thin strips of ground, twisting and turning like a maze, floating in the hazy purple sky. Bo refused to even get close to the edges. It took them an hour to even figure out a reliable way to move towards the tower, and twice as long to actually get there. The going was made particularly difficuly by thow the earth was covered with scattered bones and lumps of rock. The tower, by contrast, was not dark and murky like the rest of the dream world. It was a square-topped, perfectly even-sided building of white marble, with perfect rows of windows side by side.

"It's a little TOO perfect." Gobi commented cynically. "You can tell this is a dream or whatever just by looking at it. Nothing real is THAT good. Auria's attempts at it notwithstanding."

"We're not here to critique it." Deis reminded him sharply. "We're here to kick butt. How about we get started?" They stook one step inside the tower, and stared. The bottom floor was completely bare; there was nothing in the way between them and the staircase at the center. Gobi smiled and started forward.

"Cool. Looks like we lucked out for once-OOF!" He grunted as he slammed into... nothing. Karn rapped on the air in front of the Maniro with his knife.

"Huh. Cute trick. Clear glass walls, probably a maze. This is going to be REAL fun." The heroes ended up having to work their way around by touch alone, hugging the walls to feel gaps they could go through. It was quite a while before they reached the stairs... and when they did, somebody was waiting for them.

"Hi." The tiny human boy smiled up at them. "Who are you?"

"We're the exterminators, kid." Bo answered. "We heard there's a dream beast here, and we've come to get rid of it."

"Really?" The boy stared, wide-eyed. "You must be really strong... you look like it!"

"Well, we've been through our share of tough scrapes." Karn puffed his chest out proudly.

"I'll bet... but Mothro's even tougher!" The boy smiled wider. Nina frowned.

"Mothro? Is that the dream beast?"

"That's him! Mothro's invincible, especially when Mogu's senses are scattered!" He clapped his hands. "And Courage is gone far, far away! So you can't beat Mothro, no matter how tough you are!"

"Izzat so?" Deis glared at the boy. "Well then, why don't you try us, dream beast Mothro? Take your true form... we're not in the mood for games!" The boy's grin suddenly became vicious fangs.

"Okay, but I warned you!" As the little boy jumped into the air, his body warped and twisted, becoming insectlike and elongated. Huge butterfly wings with intricate patterns of red and purple sprouted, becoming most of his mass. The huge nightmare moth shrieked, and darkness extended out from him, covering everything around them. The heroes could still see each other and Mothro perfectly, but nothing else.

"What the hell?" Ox yelled.

"Silly mortals... fighting in the dream world isn't at all like it is in the physical world!" Mothro hissed.

"We'll see about that!" Ox yelled, charging. His hammer slammed into Mothro... who shimmered like a mirage and split into two ethereal images that rejoined once the hammer was clear.

"Maybe this, then!" Deis yelled, raising her staff. The air around Mothro exploded like hundreds of bombs going off, but again, he simply split and was unharmed. The others all attacked in turn, none of them doing anything.

"Convinced yet?" Mothro yawned, hanging motionless in the air without even a single wingbeat. "If you want to run, I'll let you. It's not like you can do anything."

"Damn..." Ryu muttered. "The little bugger's right... we've got no choice. Retreat!" The group banged off down the glass hallway, and Mothro made no moves to stop them. As they neared the entrance, they saw him in the form of the little boy again, hopping up and down with manic glee.

"Run, cowards! Ha ha ha!"

"Problematic." Ox commented as the group moved back towards the cluster of houses.

"Tell me about it." Deis sighed. "On a good note, though, there was one positive thing we learned."

"And that would be?" Ryu asked grumpily. "All I saw was our butts flying."

"Did you see Courage there?" Bo asked. "I didn't. And Mothro said he was far, far away. So it looks like Courage isn't there after all... Mothro stashed him somewhere else."

"So if we find him, and bail him out..." Nina nodded. "Good thinking. Now, we just have to find him."

"Hey! Hey, guys!" A voice hailed them from the cluster. It was Anne, the Mole Clan girl. "You'll never believe this! I found where Courage is being held!"

"See?" Gobi crowed. "I was right! We ARE getting lucky for once! Come on, missy, lead us there!" Anne led them past the town, to a bridge that they crossed.

"This was out before, but Elder Dugron fixed it while you were gone." She explained. "He had a hunch, and he was right." Past the bridge, she took them a bit further, then stopped and gestured ahead. "Now, you just have to cross there!"

"Cross... aw, geez." Gobi groaned. "So much for luck." The stretch ahead of them was the most forbidding thing any of them had seen in the dream world. A network of bones covered the floor, and between them, at random intervals, jets of white gas blasted up.

"Poison." Deis guessed. "Looks like Mothro did everything he could to make this path impenetrable." Nina sighed, then smiled.

"I swear, what would you guys do without me." Rising high into the air, above the range of the gas jets, she flew across to the other end effortlessly and entered the small cave there.

"Show-off." Ryu muttered. A few anxious moments passed, and then Nina emerged from the cave with a Mogu dressed in red.

"Courage here was hogtied inside."

"I'm not what you're looking for." Courage muttered sullenly. "There's no courage here. I'm just form... no substance."

"You're depressed, is what you are." Elder Dugron said, coming up behind the heroes. "You're still Courage, the same as ever."

"Yeah! Snap out of it, Courage!" Anne yelled. "You're still powerful!"

"She's right." Elder Dugron nodded. "Live your life to the fullest, and you'll GIVE it substance."

"Easy for you to say." Courage sighed. Dugron slapped his forehead.

"Come on! You're the embodiment of courage itself! Act like it!" The old Mole Clanner's face was turning red. Anne wagged a finger.

"Now look, Courage! You upset him! You know that's bad for his heart!" Courage sighed and stepped forward.

"Oh, all right... what has to be done has to be done, I guess. Come on, guys." Instantly, the other five Mogus appeared around him.

"We must be united... in order to bring peace to this world, and the world outside." Reason argued.

"Yeah! But since you're with us again, there's nothing to worry about except horrible death! Haha!" Humor laughed.

"It's in my nature to be distressed, but not yours." Sorrow reproved. "I've got too big a share here already... we don't need you making it worse!"

"If you become yourself again, I... guess I'll be fine too. That Mothro's awfully tough, but... we'll try!" Fear attempted to smile.

"Gabbermouth, joker, crybaby and scaredycat are right!" Anger yelled. "We've sat around long enough! Let's get in gear and kick that Mothro's ass right outta here at top speed!" All six looked at each other, nodded, and stepped into each other. With a flash of golden light, there was only one remaining.

"I'm not sure if I can beat him, but... heck, I'll do my best." Mogu smiled. With a thought, he turned off the gas jets, and he and Nina joined the rest easily. "Please... will you help me?"

"Hell, kid, that's what we came here to do in the first place." Ox smiled, then blinked. Anne and Elder Dugron were gone. "Hey... where'd they go?"

"They're not needed any more." Mogu smiled sadly. "If everybody I ever knew was here, it'd be so crowded we wouldn't be able to move. Those two were called up because I needed them."

"And now you're fine. Well, almost fine." Ryu looked off toward the tower. "We've still got one big bug that needs a REAL good swatting. Let's get to it."


	15. Chapter 14: The Color Of Courage

**__**

Chapter 14: The Color Of Courage

"Back for more, eh?" Mothro taunted as soon as he saw the heroes enter the tower. "Boy, you guys are stup-HUH?"

"Look who we found." Ox smiled. "Not quite as stupid as you thought, eh?" Mogu gravely pointed one huge claw at the little boy.

"Get out of my head."

"Bah!" Mothro spat, recovering. "So you found Courage. Big deal! That doesn't mean you've won! I'll be waiting at the top of the tower. Come and get me, if you dare!" Turning, he ran up the stairs.

"Time for the glass maze again..." Gobi sighed. Mogu shook his head.

"No... I have enough control back to take care of this." He concentrated, and the walls became visible stone. Ryu frowned.

"Well... actually, now we can't see the stairs, so we've got no clue where to go."

"Ah." Mogu sighed. "Oh well, back it goes." He let the walls become glass again, and they slowly made their way through the labyrinth. The second floor of the tower looked the same... at first. However, as they began working their way through it, faint images began appearing on the walls.

"What... are these?" Bo wondered. The one closest was a moving picture of Mogu playing with Anne. Both looked several years younger.

"Memories..." Mogu told them. "That was when I was eight... Anne had just learned to walk..."

"Elder Dugron said this was the center of your mind." Deis remembered. "Looks like he was right." As they moved through the labyrinth, more memories were played on the walls. Mogu learning under Elder Dugron, burrowing a tunnel through soft soil, going out to dig up edible roots, trying to fish on a far-away trip. And then, as they reached the third floor, the memories changed... became grimmer. The Dark Dragon soldiers coming, stomping through the caves underneath Gramor like they owned the place, pulling out some of the Mole Clanners to be hauled back to Scande for slave labor, and the rest to be humiliated and even whipped...

"I hate Dark Dragons." Ryu muttered simply, eyes burning. Nina watched him and the memories without comment.

"This definately ranks up on the top of our 'why-we-kick-their-asses' list." Bo agreed.

"Dark Dragons..." Mogu looked both sad and angry. "Do they... do this to everybody?"

"They would if they could." Ox nodded. "My people were under their control for a short time, and we weren't treated much better than this. As long as Emperor Zog and the Tiamat Unit remain in charge, this is what the Dark Dragons will be like."

"No... no way." Mogu said firmly. "That can't happen. The Dark Dragons can't be allowed to do this to everybody. They just can't!" Unknown to him, Ryu and Bo were watching him very closely. Bo inclined his head in a questioning manner, and Ryu responded by nodding firmly.

"Hey, I think this is it." Karn smiled as they reached the next set of stairs. "I see light." They emerged on the top of the tower, with only the muddy purple haze above them. The towertop was mostly bare, but four decorative pillars rose from the opposite end. Between them stood a tiny human boy.

"So you came... you are stupid!" Mothro smiled at them. "You should have stayed away. Now I have to kill you, for master Mote!"

"That's a laugh." Bo snorted. "You can't play the invincible god of this world anymore, so let's get on with the swatting!"

"Ha! Like I told you before, fighting in the dream world isn't the same as in the real world! Let's see how good you really are!" Mothro crowed as he leaped into the air. The same inky blackness spilled out from him to cover everything as he returned to his true form, the humongous butterfly. Ryu was transforming at the exact same time; when he hit the ground, he was the mighty Ice Dragon.

"You're getting the full ass-kick treatment this time, bug!" He roared. Mothro just snickered, hovering motionless in the air as before.

"Ooh, scary! Just try it!" Ryu obliged by spewing a wide stream of frigid air that would have put out the entire town of Drogen while it burned. It hit Mothro dead-on and... did nothing. It just vanished into him, like a rock tossed into a lake.  
"What the hell!"

"Told ya! My turn!" A vivid green horn on Mothro's head shimmered, and Ryu felt something pierce his wing.

"Ugh! What the... oog..." He stumbled, feeling as if his blood had turned to molasses.  
"Poison!" Ox cursed, raising his hand. The feeling disappeared, and Ryu raised his head just as Mothro howled.

"ARGH!" Little Mogu had dashed forward, and was now raking Mothro savagely with his huge digging claws. No visible wounds were appearing on the motionless dream beast, but it was evident that damage was being inflicted. "You stupid..." There was a sound like massive wings beating, and Mogu flew back. A moment later, Mothro was hit again by thrown knives and fired arrows.

"Have some of that, why don't you!" Karn laughed.

"Whoa! Too much going on!" Mothro laughed back fearlessly. "Time Out, pal!" There was a blue flash, and Bo was as motionless as Mothro... but in his case, it was real and not an illusion.

"Is he...?" Ox asked breathlessly, then blinked. "No, wait! Still moving... but very slowly!"

"Duh! I SAID Time Out, pal!" Mothro sneered. "Here, you too, knifey!" Another blue flash, and Karn was frozen.  
"Hey, brat! Over here!" Deis yelled. "This wouldn't work in reality since you're airborne, but this place is just crazy enough for a shot!" Everything began rumbling, and a massive rift appeared in the darkness right on Mothro. It was gone for a moment, but the damage was obviously felt.

"OW! Here, you Time Out too!" The blue flash came, but all Deis did was curl her lip scornfully.

"Pssht. Like that'd work against me? I was casting spells thousands of years before your creator's ancestors were in diapers!"

"Oh yeah?" Mothro yelped, then screamed as hammer, pike and claws slammed into him simultaneously. "Oof! You want some of this, big guy?" His horn glowed, and Ox stumbled before raising his hand again and recovering.

"Nasty poison... but not enough!"

"FINE, then!" Mothro shrieked shrilly. "Time for the big guns!" His eyes flashed, there was a sound like thunder, and Gobi fell forward.

"Why... always... me..." The Maniro gasped before hitting the ground, hard.

"Gobi!" Nina flew down and checked the Maniro.

"Is he...?" Ryu asked tersely. Nina bit her lip, then shook her head.

"Phew... just unconscious!"  
"Good!" Ryu growled, releasing more frigid gas into Mothro's face. This time, he heard the cracking sound of ice spreading, followed by it being broken by hammer and claws.

"You lousy-AWAY!" Mothro beat his wings again, knocking both Ox and Mogu off, then glared at Ryu. "That's it! You're down too, pain-in-the-ass!" His eyes flashed, and Ryu steeled himself for the knockout... but it didn't come as he saw a pink blur knock him out of the way. And then Nina was crumpled on the ground in front of him.

"Oops! Missed! Oh well, one down is one down!" Mothro laughed, then stopped as he saw something rushing at him, almost too fast to see. Something... that became instant, total and complete agony with rending claws and gouging teeth, colder than a glacier. Everything felt like it was being ripped apart.

"No... you've beat me... but you'll still be trapped here... forever! Master Mote!" Mothro shrieked as the image of the motionless butterfly exploded in bright golden dust. Ryu hit the ground and shifted back to his human form, running over to Nina.

"Nina! Ox, can you..."

"I only know the rudiments of white magic, boss." Ox shrugged helplessly. "Poison, sure, but that..."

"Come on, Nina... come to!" Ryu shook her. Nina moaned once, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Ryu... even when I'm sleeping, you..."

"You... little idiot." Ryu smiled, rubbing his eyes. "Why did you take that for me?"

"If you went down... no way could we have beaten him." Nina explained. "You... big idiot."

"I don't know about that." Ryu shook his head. "But whatever... I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." Gobi called as he sat up. "Whoo... that bug had a hell of a haymaker, though."

"Look, guys." Mogu pointed up at the sky. They all followed his gaze. The muddy purple haze was brightening, becoming a pretty lavender.

"Mothro's interference is gone." Deis realized. "You should be back to normal now, Mogu."

"I think I am..." Mogu agreed, then blinked. "Hey, I'm... waking up..." He began disappearing, becoming almost ethereal, as everything became suffused with a soft golden light. The dream world wavered, then faded away. For a moment, only a second, they saw a vision... of a short figure hooded and robed in purple, with blood-red hands, glaring at them with glowing eyes and smile of the same color. Again, there was the sensation of falling... and then, like cannonballs being fired, the heroes were ejected from the Therapy Pillow to land in an undignified heap on the floor. Dimly, they became aware of the Mole Clanners watching them.

"What the... oh! Look! Mogu!" Mogu's grandmother gasped, turning away from them to point at the Mole Clan boy. Mogu's eyes were open, and he was looking at them all.

"Mogu!" Anne jumped up and down with joy. "I was so worried about you!"

"I... had a dream." Mogu looked at Anne. "You were in it... and you, and..." He trailed off, looking at all of the heroes. "And all of you. In fact... it wasn't a dream, was it? It didn't seem like it..."

"No, it wasn't, Mogu." Ryu shook his head. "We helped you in the battle for your own mind... and you won."

"Then my mind... my courage was real?" Mogu asked, somewhat incredulously. Ox threw back his head and laughed, long and loud.

"I'll say it was, kid! You were great! You've got the stuff pros are made of when it comes to butt-kicking!"

"Then..." Mogu rose out bed, jaw firmly set. "Then there's something I want to ask you."

"Mogu...?" Mogu's grandmother stared at him.

"Nana... I have to ask. Ryu... all of you... could I join you in this world as well?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Ryu smiled. "You know who we are, and what we're doing?" Mogu nodded firmly. "And you're willing to go where we go, take the same risks as us, and do the same things we do?" Another nod. "Then welcome aboard, Mogu. Glad to have you along."

"Are you... sure about this, Mogu?" Anne asked. Mogu smiled at her, and she blinked; apparently, he hadn't done that often before.

"I am, Anne. I have to do this... otherwise, the Dark Dragons will keep on treating our people like slaves. If Ryu and his friends take out the men at the top... things will change. So I have to help them do that. For all of our Clan."

"That's the spirit!" Deis grinned. "You're going to work out just fine." Mogu bowed to her and doffed his turban. As he did, something fell out of it. A small, beautiful but deadly looking red butterfly, dead. Ryu shook his head.

"So that's what Mote's dream beast really looks like..."

"Mote!" Mogu blinked, snapping back to attention. "The Red Dreammaster! I saw him for a moment when I woke up... and that reminds me! I overheard his plans... that's why he sent that thing after me!"

"Talk." Ryu was instantly all business. "What's he going to do?"

"He has a fix on one of the Goddess Keys... the Sky Key!" Mogu explained. "He and the Black Warrior were talking about moving on it, but the Gold Lord had called them back to Scande. Mote said that soon, he would return alone and find the Key! They said they were figuring on it being near the town of Spring, to the south."

"Spring... where Cort grew up." Gobi remembered. "We'll have to go there as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow." Ryu decided. "One night here to rest up, and then we leave for Spring tomorrow. You know the way, Mogu?" Mogu nodded. "Good. Then you can take us right to the Sky Key... and to Mote."

"Just let me at him." Mogu growled bravely, flexing his claws.

"Why do we always have to start the campfire?" Karn complained to Deis as the two of them gathered firewood. The heroes were camped at the south end of the Gramor wasteland, near a passage into the mountains that Mogu called the Winter Cave. Tomorrow, they would pass through it to reach Spring. Deis sighed and began counting off on her fingers.

"Ryu is catching fish, which we cannot do because we don't know how to fish. Bo is hunting, which we could probably try to do, but would not succeed very well at. Ox is collecting fruit by the bash-a-tree method, which we would also probably not be successful at. Mogu is digging up some edible roots, and we can't dig. Nina is keeping a watch out for enemies and inclement weather, which she is best at because she can fly. And Gobi will be doing the actual cooking because he is best at that. I don't think I'd want to try your cooking, and I KNOW mine leaves a lot to be desired unless it involves alcohol... which we don't have much of."

"You could have just said 'because Ryu said so,' you know." Karn grimaced, rubbing his ear. "Speaking of the boss, are him and Nina friends again?"

"Seems that way." Deis nodded. "She's been smart enough not to mention Ladon again, and their argument from before's been patched up."

"Good." Karn smiled, relieved. "The group just wasn't right with them like that, you know? Glad they're back together."

"Yeah..." Deis sighed a bit disappointedly. "But there goes any chance I had at him. Oh well, I've learned not to be picky. Plenty more opportunities in this outfit."

"Mogu's a kid, and Ox is already married." Karn pointed out. "And nothing personal, but you're about a bajillion years older than me, Bo and Gobi. Combined."

"No offense taken." Deis shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me, anyways... I always look the same."

"You did a pretty good job faking it back in Tunlan, then." Karn commented.

"Hey, I needed an excuse to give that brat a thumping." Deis shook her head. "Didn't mean to let Cerl get away, but nobody's perfect. Anyways, I've pretty much stopped caring about the age differential thing. I just try to enjoy any relationships as much as I can in the time I've got. Eventually, every time, I'll get the urge to go back to sleep again... and I know that when I wake up, everybody I knew will be gone... and there's nothing I can do about it." Her face changed from the cocky expression she usually wore, and for a moment, her eyes were distant. Karn shivered, realizing that she had never told any of them just how old she really was.

"That... must be lonely." He mentally cursed himself for not thinking of anything better to say. "Nobody stays around? Ever?"

"There's the spirits in Wisdon, but they're not the sort you can have parties and play card games with." Deis shook her head. "And then there's... well, I suppose you'd call them family. We're not exactly close, though. So no... not really."

"I can't imagine what that would be like." Karn admitted. Deis picked up a healthy chunk of firewood.

"I could tell you I got used to it after a while... that's what I usually say. But it's a lie. I don't... not really. But I have gotten a little numb to it... I suppose that's the best I"m going to get." She examined the firewood they had gathered. "Well, I suppose that's enough. Come on, let's get back to the camp."

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Both Karn and Deis were still somewhat depressed after their conversation, and neither Ryu nor Nina were inclined to say much either; they simply sat next to each other and smiled a lot. Surprisingly, the roots Mogu excavated from underneath the huge lavender tuber plants native to Gramor were quite good, despite the expectations of most of the group. After the meal, Deis turned in early, pleading a headache. Ryu and Nina decided to take the first watch together, and the others all nodded solemnly and pretended to nod off while listening intently.

_Well, can't put it off any longer._ Nina sighed, steeling herself. "Ryu... about Ladon..."

"I know." Ryu interrupted. "I was angry... stubborn and reckless. I shouldn't have exploded on you like that. I'm sorry."

"No, no." Nina shook her head, confused. "I was going to say I was sorry for starting the argument, and trying to make you do something you were so deadset against." The two of them looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"If Deis was awake, she'd say we were both idiots about now." Ryu snorted. Nina nodded, giggling.

"She'd be right, too." She quickly sobered. "So... what ARE we going to do about Ladon?"

"I... don't know." Ryu looked away. "I'm not as angry as I was right after I left Gust... but I still don't like all of us being moved around like chess pieces between him and Myria. Maybe I'll decide on something after we deal with Mote... see if anything happens with Ladon there."

"Whatever you decide, we'll all follow you." Nina smiled. "Even if it means turning our backs on Ladon. We've followed you this far... what kind of friends would we be if we bailed out now?"

"Even when you were mad at me, you still..." Ryu realized. "Nina... you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you." He turned his face towards hers, and slowly, they came together... and then Nina pulled away.

"Ryu... I can't. I'm... I'm sorry." Ryu's face was astonished at first... and then came realization, as if remembering something important from long ago.

"Nina..."

"I just... can't." Turning away, she flew off close to the ground into the wasteland. Finding a secluded spot, she sat there staring at the ground, until a hiss drew her attention. A dark blue skull, hovering and glowing, was about to dive on her when a massive object slammed into it, shattering it into chunky bits.

"A dangerous thing to do, Princess." Ox told her softly, dropping his sledge. "Going out into this place alone, especially at night."

"Did you...?" Nina whispered. Ox nodded.

"We all did, except for Deis. Bo's talking to Ryu right now." His rough face was creased with puzzlement. "I must admit, Princess... I'm confused as to why you broke away like that."

"It's because I AM a Princess... of the Wing Clan." She murmured sadly. Ox's face became even more confused.

"I'm sorry, but... I still don't understand. Leaders of the people take partners too. Elder Minos had a daughter by the time he was my age."

"It's different for the Wing Clan." She tried to explain. "I... told Ryu when we first met, so he knew. We... when we turn eighteen, we gain the ability to transform like Gobi... become a Great Bird."

"I've heard of that." Ox nodded.

"But... in order to do that, we must keep our bloodline pure Wing Clan, or close to it." Nina continued. "For the Wing Clan, marrying or... otherwise taking a partner from another Clan is illegal. One of our highest crimes. Brutal, but neccessary for the future of our Clan. And because I'm the Princess..." Ox's face lit with realization.

"You're the Princess... so you're bound more than anybody else by that. If you and Ryu... then the people wouldn't obey the law any more. They won't follow rules that their own leaders break."

"Exactly." Nina was starting to break down again. "So... eventually, I'll have to marry another Wing Clanner. And Ryu and I have to be... friends. Nothing more... ever." Ox held her in one huge arm gently, as if she weighed nothing, and was silent, not saying a word. The two of them went back to the camp, where the others met them with silence and understanding eyes while Ryu stood watch, his back to them all to hide his face.

The next morning, it was if none of that had taken place; they set off into the Winter Cave with the same joking and banter as usual. But occasionally, Ryu or Nina's eyes would dim for a moment, and they would stand still, not seeing what went on around them for a brief moment before moving on.

The town of Spring and the area surrounding it were perhaps the most beautiful place in the Lands of the West. All year round, the hills were covered with vibrant green grass and flowers of every color, surrounding the clear blue waters of the lake at the center of it all. Standing on one such hill, watching the humongous waterfall that roared as it filled the lake from the mountains high above, was a single short figure clad all in purple. The beauty of his surroundings were not lost on Mote, the Red Dreammaster.

"I can see why Blue always spoke so proudly of his home." Mote reminisced. "Any man would be fortunate to have been brought up here. I can only hope that even now, he is somewhere much like this. Perhaps we will all gather there when everything is over... it would be nice." He snorted at an amusing thought and dropped his serious mien for a second. "If Black was here, he'd probably make some comment about getting to see White in a swimsuit from Tunlan thanks to that lake, too. Brother..." He shook his head and gazed up at the sky. "Enough of being prosaic for now. Let's see... should be night in about an hour. Just enough time to catch some dinner and set everything up." Bringing down a deer was an easy task for the Red Dreammaster; the beast only saw another one of its kind approaching, and paid it no mind, even when spiderlike fingers closed around its neck and broke it with a single motion. Humming an ancient children's tune to himself, Mote made a campfire, then concentrated for a moment on wrapping himself in illusion. Any hungry monsters that approached during the night would see a huge Dark Dragon in its reptilian form, and realize that they had an appointment somewhere else. As the deer cooked, Mote finally took his first look up at the tower behind him.

"Spyre... Tower of the Sky." Mote smiled. "We should have seen it far earlier than this... where else could the Sky Key be hiding? Perhaps Ladon himself clouded all of OUR minds, even mine... I certainly wouldn't put it past him." Suddenly, the Red Dreammaster had a vision. Eight people, flying up towards him out of a deep pit. A Wing Clan princess... an archer from the Forest Clan... one of the near-extinct Fusion Clan... a Builder Clanner with muscles like oak roots... a fat Maniro with a huge grin... an ancient sorceress with the lower body of a snake... a Mole Clan child who somehow was also the pit below... and a Light Dragon with blue hair. As suddenly as the vision arrived, it was gone, and Mote was left breathing heavily and watching his deer burn. Automatically, he took it off of the fire and began to eat.

"So... Mothro is dead." Mote muttered after several bites. "Has to be... there's no other explanation for that vision. I wonder how the hell they managed to enter Mogu's mind... doesn't matter. They did it, and the method is inconsequential. The party of Light is now complete." He smiled slowly and cruelly. "A shame that ours cannot be the same any more... but if that is what Ladon wills, then so be it. However, I cannot allow myself to be caught by them out here. Let it be tomorrow, then..." Finishing his dinner, he reached into a traveling pack and removed a crystal ball, unknowingly identical to the one Deis had blown up less than two weeks back. He concentrated on it. "Red Dreammaster calling Scande... this is the Red Dreammaster, calling Scande. Is anybody there?"  
"Mote?" Goda's face appeared in the crystal ball. The Black Warrior looked exhausted. "Are you at Spyre okay?"

"I'm fine, Goda." Mote sighed, then frowned. "How long have you been waiting for me to call? What have I told you about worrying so much that you don't even get any sleep?"

"Too long, Mote, and I didn't have much choice in the matter." Goda passed a weary hand as big as a chicken across his eyes. "Lord Jade went to pick up White from Tunlan, remember? They both only got back a few minutes ago... I was about to hit the hay and let one of them relieve me. Neither me or Silver have been getting enough sleep, since one of us has to be on this thing at all times."

"Well, get them all over here, already." Mote told him. Goda nodded and left the crystal ball. A moment later, it projected a wider image of the four members of the Tiamat Unit back in Scande. Cerl and Jade both had somewhat disgruntled looks on their faces, and Silver's was as obscured as always. The Red Dreammaster raised an eyebrow. "Problems with the Time Key, White?"

"No, we have the Time Key fine." Cerl shook her head. "It was the damned ship... the _Quincunx _ran into a reef near Scande. None of us will be using it again for a month at least... probably more like two." Mote giggled amusedly.

"Sorry I missed it."

"Don't be." Jade shook his head. "I've seen you try to swim, and it's a rough night out there. How are things on your end?"

"Absolutely wonderful." Mote couldn't resist. "Blue was right... this place is paradise."

"Save the vacation advertising." Jade growled. "What's your situation?"

"Right outside Spyre as we speak." Mote glanced upward for a moment. "I'll be going in tomorrow, bright and early. Ryu and company will likely be arriving a few days afterwards... they just wiped out the dream beast I sent after the Master Digger less than an hour ago."

"Already?" Cerl's eyes flashed. "How are they so fast? I just had an encounter with them at Tunlan!"

"They ARE our opposites, you know." Silver reminded her. "They may not be individually as good as we are... yet... but they're getting there in less than a tenth of the time it took any of us."

"Blue..." Goda rumbled, then shook his head. "Mote... will you be able to send another transmission from inside the Spyre?"

"I don't know... probably not." Mote shook his head. "Even if I make it to the Sky Key before them, though, I won't be leaving... that's where I'M going to make my stand against them, when they arrive."

"But Mote..." Goda started.

"No, Black." Jade cut him off. "Red's made his decision... he knows what he's doing." Cerl and Silver nodded.

"It's his call." Cerl agreed, and Silver put a gloved hand on Goda's arm.

"Black... I know you want to protect him, but this time, he has to take care of things himself... trust in him, and what he believes in... what we all believe in."

"...All right." Goda slowly agreed. "Mote... do what you have to. Make Blue... make all of us proud of you."

"I fully intend to, Goda. Blue gave everything he had for the service... I cannot do any less." Mote saluted them all, and they saluted back, before the image in the crystal ball faded and disappeared. The campfire went out a moment later, and the only light was from a pair of glowing red eyes that soon closed... but no smile.

"This Winter Cave lives up to the name." Karn muttered, teeth chattering from the cold. "This is worse than the nights in Arad. Is it always this bad, Mogu?"

"Not really..." Mogu scratched his head, puzzled. "It's cold, sure, but I don't remember it being this much so..." He blinked and pointed forward. "Hey, is that the way out?"

"Looks like it." Ryu nodded. "You've got good eyes."

"Not really." Mogu shrugged modestly. "It's just that if you spend as much time underground as I do, you learn to spot daylight easily."

"That makes sense." Ox nodded, then frowned as they stepped out into the open. "What the... something ain't right here."

"Gee, you think so?" Deis muttered sarcastically. They were standing nearby a vast lake. A large town was build on the bank, almost extending out onto it, and a huge, ancient tower was visible on the far side. Just north of the town, what must have been the world's bigest waterfall had once poured down from the mountains to fill the lake. Once. Now, everything was frozen. The waterfall and lake were both solid ice, and the ground around them was decked with fresh white snow.

"Tina said Spring was a place of beauty, seemingly untouched by the seasons..." Bo remembered. "This... this can't be right. Mogu?"

"I've never seen Spring like this." The Mole Clan boy whispered, awed. "No, Bo... this is not right. Not at all." They all stared out at the icy lake before them, and then Ryu began to chuckle darkly.

"We should have figured this... seen it, or something like it, coming. We should know by now... nothing EVER goes right for us. Come on, let's see what's up in town." Still chuckling, he started off towards Spring, and after a moment, the others followed.

"Let me try something." Gobi told the others, then wandered over to a passing woman and used his best ingratiating grin. "Excuse me, ma'am... could you direct us to a man named Ernie? I think he's the local doctor?"

"Old Ernie?" The woman pointed down the street, towards the lake. "Just keep going in this direction... his place is the last one there. He's really busy right now with this accursed weather, though, so don't expect to get in to see him any time soon."

"Our thanks, madame." Gobi bowed to her, then led the way. Old Ernie's place, as it turned out, WAS built over the lake; partially, at least. The westmost part of the house hung off the bank over the ice. Dimly, the heroes saw some kind of rotor trapped down there. The house itself apparently doubled as Old Ernie's clinic; there was a line of people inside waiting to be treated for colds and various other winter-related problems.

"Newcomers? Great, more problems." The rather heavy-set old man had a completely bald head, and above his white mustache was a nose as red as a tomato. "Get in line, I'll see you when it's your turn."

"Actually, mister Ernie, we just need to talk with you for a moment." Ryu explained. "We heard of you from Tina, and..." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "And from Cort." Ernie stared at him, eyes narrowed intently.

"From Tina and Cort, you say. All right. Hey, people! Give an old man a few minutes off once on a while, huh? Go on, get! I'll be open again in half an hour!" The line dispersed, and Ernie hung a "Closed" sign on his door before turning back to the heroes. "How is little Tina doing? I haven't heard much from her in a while..."

"She's met a guy named Nicholie... a bridge-builder. World famous." Nina explained. "The two of them seem very happy together."

"Good." Ernie grunted. "She deserves some happiness after what she went through ever since Cort blew up his house. Anyways. What brings guys like you to me? I know it's not just to tell me Tina said hi."

"We were hoping you could tell us what's going on here." Ryu explained. "This isn't normal weather for Spring, is it?"

"Not even close, son." Old Ernie agreed vehemently. "Last time it snowed even a little here was when I was just a brat. And then, two days ago, bang! This comes down out of nowhere! They'll have to change this town's name if this keeps up."

"What could make the climate change so suddenly, though?" Nina wondered. Ernie snorted.

"I'll tell you what, missy. Spyre! Some idiot's got to be messing around with Spyre!"

"Where the Sky Key is?" Karn asked excitedly, then covered his mouth, too late. Old Ernie was looking at them with his eyes narrowed again.

"Now where the heck did you hear about that... never mind. It's none of my business." He relaxed. "Yeah, the Sky Key's up at the top, at the heart of the weather regulation system. That's what's kept Spring so nice, you see."

"So this weather means... somebody's done something with the Sky Key?" Ryu asked, feeling a litle sick. Old Ernie shook his head.

"Nope, son. Spyre itself is the system; just stepping in there starts screwing with things. And it's supposed to be a nightmare to get through; there, the seasons change on every floor! No, I don't think whoever's doing this has the Key yet, if that's what he's after."

"Thanks, old man." Bo smiled. "We'll be heading there ourselves now... we'll try to get things back the way they should be."

"Just find whoever screwed with things in the first place and throw him off the top, that'll be good enough for me." Old Ernie muttered, opening his doors again. "Now beat it, I got people to doctor." The heroes nodded and left. To reach Spyre faster, they simply walked across the lake; the ice was thick enough to hold them easily.

"You sure about this, boss?" Gobi asked doubtfully as they walked around Spyre, looking for the door. "Shouldn't we rest up at the Inn for a night before heading in?"

"No time." Ryu replied tersely. "It's Mote... has to be. If we take even one more night off, he may escape with the Sky Key. We have to get in there and try to get it before he does... or at the very least, take him down before he can run."

"Ah... one question." Karn raised a hand. "How do we get inside?" They had gone around the entire Spyre and found no entrance. Deis shrugged.

"Guess I'll just have to make a door for us. Stand back, people."

"Wait!" Mogu cried. "I've found something." On the ground, in front of Spyre, was a massive dirt patch in the shape of a dragon's head. "This can't be a coincidence. I'll be right back." Bending over, he vanished into the earth like diving into water, leaving only a faint spray of soft dirt in his wake. A moment later his head popped back up. "I was right! This goes into a basement of Spyre!"

"God job, Mogu." Ryu smiled. "Can you make a wide hole we can all fit down?" Mogu saluted and quickly had a large hole ready. One by one, they jumped down and landed on a strangely purple mudbank in the middle of an underground river. This far down, the waters were unfrozen. Ox gasped, and everybody followed his gaze to piles of ancient weapons and armor, lying around like so much garbage.

"I don't believe it... some of this stuff looks like it dates back to the Dragon War! If I could just get a closer look at it..."

"We can do that later." Ryu said impatiently. "We'll come back down here and haul everything out later, Ox. But first, we need to catch Mote. Come on." The river was fast, but they were able to work their way along thin strips of semi-dry land to the stairs that led up in Spyre proper.

"This basement..." Gobi looked around disapprovingly. "This is so structually unsound, it defies description. The first time a really huge deluge comes down out of the mountains, it'll break Spyre out of the ground and wash the whole thing out to sea."

"Yeah, right." Karn snorted. "Maybe a deluge that would flood the entire desert of Gramor, too. Otherwise, not happening, fishman. This place has stayed up this long, hasn't it? Come on, let's go on up." Emerging from the basement, they found themselves... surrounded by bright green, grassy fields.

"Well, old Ernie warned us that this place was strange..." Mogu remembered dismally. Fortunately, the grassy fields were as tame as they looked; the strongest monsters were the Common Blue Slime and the Pink Mud-Creep. The next floor was even stranger; they were caught in a rainstorm so thick, they were unable to see anything.

"Feel for the stairs with your hands!" Gobi yelled, barely able to be heard. "No other way!" Fortunately, the monsters there weren't much tougher; Blurb fanged caveslugs and purple Manson Zombies. Still, it took them what seemed like an eternity to find the stairs."

"Imagine it would have been like for Mote." Gobi said in an attempt to raise his friends' moods as they went up another floor. "If he was by himself, only one pair of hands to... oh. Oh no. Oh HELL no." They were back in the Desert of Arad. Gobi slowly sank to his knees. "Why me, Ladon? Why?"

"Get back up, ham actor." Karn prodded him with the toe of his boot. "It's just one floor, not the real desert. Come on." After that, they all lost track of how many floors there were; they simply continued plowing forward through each change, each different world. Thick green forests where they ducked from tree to tree, led by Bo, in his element once more... Icy plains where huge, carnivorous blue flowers like the one Cort had grown stalked them on insectlike legs... aquatic coral reefs, with enemies cowering in fear of slams and punches from Karn's mighty Debo Fusion... walking above the clouds and a bright blue sky, and seeing firebird Phoenixes dive down all aglow... dark, misty graveyards where Ryu the Gold Dragon kept legions of zombies at bay... and then they emerged on what they all knew was the top floor as soon as they set eyes on it. They were standing on the night sky, with stars and moons and cosmic swirls motionless beneath their feet.

"I don't see Mote." Ryu frowned.  
"We could easily have passed him in a lot of those places down there without knowing it." Bo reminded him, then shuddered. "I can't believe we made as good time as we did."

"Hey, look! The Key's still here!" Karn yelled, tired but jubilant. Atop a pedestal like the ones all the Goddess Keys but Earth and Time had rested on was a glowing green crystal orb. "Probably have to fight that cranky old Myst again for it, but we can take 'im easily now! Come on!" Putting aside a nagging feeling of doubt, Ryu walked up to it. Next to it, he saw a monolithic slab of stone like the one underneath Camlon, with a place for a Key.

"Huh... maybe this is where the center of the weather control is. Get the Key first, then see what we can do..." He stared at the orb. It pulsed, then shattered into millions of fragments, leaving a small key to clink to the ground. The Sky Key was made of silver, and the top resembled a sunburst, with blade-sharp spikes. Ryu picked it up, then turned to the others, smiling. "Looks like we did it-huh?" They had all suddenly turned white, and some of them looked like they were about to be physically ill. The Light Dragon looked at what he held in his hand, and dropped it with a strangled cry. It was his own severed head, mangled and bloody.

"Hee hee hee hee hee! That was wonderful! Truly, a superb reaction!" A high-pitched voice laughed cruelly from behind him. Ryu whirled to see a short figure, robed and hooded in purple, with blood-red hands like spiders. Eyes and a twisted smile glowed the same color from the hood. The familiar six-headed dragon emblem of the Tiamat Unit was on his robes.

"Mote!" The Light Dragon hissed.

"That's right." Mote nodded. "Mote, the Red Dreammaster of the Tiamat Unit. We who have no past and no future salute you, Ryu the Light Dragon and company."

"What... what do you think you're doing?" Mogu demanded, stepping forward boldly.

"Oh, hello Mogu." Mote greeted him casually. "I see you woke up... to be expected once the rest of your team arrived to pick you up, I suppose. Mothro was only a dream beast, after all, even if he was the best. They saved your sorry butt, didn't they?"

"Not at all." Ox shook his head. "Mogu kicked just as much of that thing's ass as any of us."

"Sure he did." Mote sneered dismissively. "Come on, give me another one. I'm laughing here." He bent over to Mogu, stage-whispering confidentially. "Take my word on it, pal... it never starts that way. The kid of the group is never as good as the others... you have to MAKE yourself as good as them. Takes time, but the results are worth it. Trust someone who knows."

"And you know this how?" Mogu asked, regaining some of his bravado. Mote stood back up, apparently considering something deeply... and then he reached up and pulled his hood back. Each and every one of them gasped or took a step back in surprise. Mote, the Red Dreammaster, was a child no older than Mogu. His skin was blood red, his eyes slanted and cunning. His ears were pointed, and his hair, a red like molten lava, rose to a higher point between them.

"You're... but the Tiamat Unit's been around for ten years at least!" Karn remembered. "That means..."

"Exactly, Prince of Thieves." Mote smiled. "I was breaking minds and killing people even before I learned how to read. Quite an interesting story, really... although not even I know the entirety of it. I suppose the only one who does is big brother Black."

"Black? As in the Black Warrior?" Bo blinked. "Wait, he's your big brother!"

"That's what I said, isn't it? I swear, you guys will have to keep up with me if you want to get anywhere." The Red Dreammaster's eyes glittered maliciously. "But then again, you haven't done a very good job of that so far, have you? You thought you had the Sky Key, but you were wrong! I beat you to it!"

"Easily remedied." Deis growled, holding up her cane. "We'll get the Key anyways, after we thrash you, just like we did Cort!" A string of fireballs with a dragon's head streaked forward and slammed into Mote, burning through... nothing.

"Oh, that was rich!" Mote hooted from their left. "I would have been in trouble there, IF I had been stupid enough to present such an obvious target as that!" He wagged a finger at them reprovingly. "Tsk tsk! Give me a LITTLE more credit than that!"

"I got your credit, right here!" Gobi yelled, diving forward with his pike extended. "Unlimited use, even!"

"I'll pass on the pike-in-face card, thanks." Eight Motes, standing around the group in a perfect circle, yawned. "Here, though... one for each of you. Try attacking, see what happens!"

"We're not falling for these sick games." Mogu growled, slowly angering. "We'll deal with you on our terms, not yours!"

"Oh, you poor fools... when has anything been on YOUR terms?" The Motes cackled. "Ladon told me about your little explosion, Ryu... the old boy was VERY upset. Did you HAVE to be so nasty with him?"

"We didn't like being pawns on a chessboard." Ryu growled. The Motes smirked.

"Why not? Chess is a great game! Look!" He waved, and suddenly they actually were on a chessboard, each of them a different piece. On the other side were the Tiamat Unit, with Zog and Admiral Cean filling out the back parts, and all the other officers they had defeated in front. Their own pawns were the leaders of the friendly lands. Mote waved from his place as a Bishop. "Care to play?"

"Like Mogu already told you, not interested." Ryu gritted. The Red Dreammaster sighed, disappointed.

"Spoilsport... oh well, not everybody can be as fun a guy as me." He waved a hand, and the chessboard image disappeared. "Fine. If you're going to be like that, I'll just deal with you right away!"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Mogu challenged him. "I heard more than your plans, Mote... you're not invincible! Your mind tricks won't work on us!"

"Mind tricks? How rude!" Mote clasped a hand to his chest. "I am an ARTIST! As you well know... and the rest of you do too, from your trip into Mogu's head. But what, I wonder, will you do inside a mind that's NOT on your side?" Before any of them could react, his eyes flashed, and everything shimmered. The last thing they heard was Mote's triumphant laugh, followed by a brief sensation of falling... and then, darkness.

Slowly, Ryu regained consciousness. They were lying in beds inside a small building. The others were starting to stir as well.

"Did anybody get the name on that ship that hit us?" Gobi muttered, holding his head. "And for that matter, where are we NOW?"

"That does seem to be the operative question." Deis looked around, eyes narrowing. "This doesn't look like Spring... not cold enough." She looked out a window, then drew in her breath with a sharp hiss. "Oh. Oh hell."

"What is it?" Mogu joined her. "Wait. That sky... crud." The sky was a roiling mass of golden haze, far darker than it had ever been inside Mogu's mind. "What Mote said..."

"Hey, there's more people outside!" Nina cried. A middle-aged man walked in and smiled as he saw them all up.

"Oh good... you're awake. You're the biggest group that's come so far."

"This is Mote's mind, isn't it?" Bo demanded. "We're trapped inside HIS head now." The man sighed and nodded, dropping the smile.

"That's it exactly. People who cross Mote, or just run into him at the wrong time... most he just kills, but a few, he takes in here. I'm from Spring... my name's Barry the Climber. As you can probably tell, I love climbing things... but when I scaled Spyre, Mote was at the top. Said he couldn't let anybody go who knew he was there..." He shook his head. "There's about half a dozen more folks here. Even some girl from Tunlan; none of us can speak her language, poor thing. And then there's... oh, here he is. Hey, Myst! They're awake!" Through the door, the green cloud spirit from Wisdon drifted in and glared at them.

"So, Mote took you as well..." He closed his eyes. "Sorceress... I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to guard the Sky Key, but against Mote... I could do nothing..."

"Forget it." Deis shook her head. "We'll get you all out of here soon... after we bust Mote's head open like a watermelon."

"Kill Mote?" Barry gasped. "No way! I mean... yeah, if you did it we'd all be out of here... but it's impossible! Don't you know who he is?"

"Oh, we do all right." Ox chuckled grimly. "And we've already killed his teammate, the Blue Alchemist. We'll take him down."  
"Then you should head to the Nightmare Tower." Myst's eyes blazed. "Mote will be there."

"Gotcha." Ryu nodded. "Just sit tight, folks... you'll be back in the real world before too long." As they walked out of the cluster of houses where Mote's captives stayed, Ryu noticed a Dragon Temple that had been painted a bright red. Growling low in his throat, he passed by it without comment.

The terrain of Mote's mind was even rougher than it had been in Mogu's; the ground was covered with irregular chasms and rises. When they finally made it near the Nightmare Tower, the center of Mote's mind, they discovered that like Spyre, it had no door.

"Now what?" Karn groaned. "I don't suppose you can dig us in here too, Mogu?"

"Doubtful." The young Mole Clanner shook his head. "This is the dream world... everything here is a manifestation of Mote's mind. If the core of it is closed to us, nothing we can do can break in... hey." He blinked, looking around. "Thought I felt something..."

"Felt something?" Nina raised an eyebrow. Mogu nodded absently, walking away.

"Yeah... something pulling at me, I don't know what. Came from over here... ha! Look, guys!" The others rushed over to find a narrow cave entrance in a rock wall. None of them had seen it before. "Let's try in here!"

"My question is, what was that 'feeling' you had, Mogu?" Bo wondered. Deis pursed her lips.

"At a guess, Mote has a prisoner in that tower... somebody with very strong psychic abilities. They're hoping we'll help them out, so they sent Mogu some directions on how to get in."

"Well, you know that old saying." Gobi smiled. "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.. wait, no, that's not right..." He continued muttering to himself, under his breath, as they entered the cave. At first, it was simple stone around them, but soon, the walls became carved, and the floor tiled. The odd thing was, it was all covered in thick dust, obscuring everything.

"What is this place?" Nina whispered, awed.

"Looks like... part of Mote's mind that he hasn't accessed in a long time." Mogu brushed off a section of a wall with one huge claw, and it displayed a moving picture. A tiny boy with red skin, only a year or two old, was awakened by the cries of a huge young man with skin the same color and a long mass of black hair, who was apparently having a nightmare. The tiny boy seemed to concentrate, and the man quieted down, fading into peaceful sleep.

"Is that Goda?" Ox wondered. "Has to be... a memory from years ago, then?"

"Yeah, looks like it." Bo brushed off another section of wall, showing another memory. Mote again, still very little, now reading a book with Cort's aid, both of them smiling. Another memory, of hiking through a thick forest with Cerl... and then one of sitting at the Dark Dragon court, watching Jade and Zog intimidate the lesser officers with awe and respect. Ryu's eyes narrowed particularly at the last one; he had never actually seen either of them before.

"These memories were all from the very start of Mote's life, looks like..." Mogu looked around. "But... have you noticed? Nothing about any sort of parents... maybe here?" He looked down a hall that was even filthier than the rest. Here, the walls would only be partially cleared; some of the dust refused to come off, obscuring the memories on the wall. The first one was not much... the cries of a baby, followed by a yelled curse, a blurry image of something rushing forward, and an impact. Everybody winced.

"On second thought, might not want to know about that..." Karn shook his head. "Come out of there, Mogu... I don't think we'll find Little Red himself down there."

"I suppose not." Mogu shook his head. "Let me just try one more." He attempted to clear another memory, again with only partial success... a sensation of movement, in the arms of a huge young man with red skin... Goda. Then being set down, and the sounds of a fight... and the intense urge to act, to do something to help... followed by a familiar face. Jade, looking just like he had in the memory of court, several years later. He was saying something, but it wasn't audible... there seemed to be two faces behind him as well, but again, these were unclear.

"We don't have time for this." Deis said impatiently. "Let's go, already... there's nothing useful here." They walked down the less dusty hall, which slowly became clearer... and then there was a barred prison cell at the end of the hall. Without thinking, Ox stepped forward and bent the bars apart with his bare hands. It was only then that any of them saw the cell's inhabitant... a short figure with pointed ears and even more pointed hair.

"Mote!" Ryu yelled, drawing his sword, then pausing. The prisoner's skin was normal flesh-toned, and his robes were sky-blue. "Are... you?"

"Yes... and no." The prisoner smiled sadly, a smile with none of Mote's cruelty. "I'm part of Mote, you could say... part of him that hasn't been active for a long time. Look." He gestured at the wall on the back of the cell, where a clear memory was playing endlessly.

__

"Goda..." Little Mote, only three years old, stumbled towards his brother, tripping over the hem of the purple robes he had to wear. "Big brother..."

"Hush, Red." Goda rumbled, not unkindly, as he picked the small boy up and carried him on his shoulder. "We're in public... you know you're supposed to call me Black."

"Black Warrior..." Mote shook his head. "I don't like it, big brother. When they all call you that, it's like you're somebody else..."

"Then we'll go into our Unit's quarters, and be private." Goda walked out of Scande's hall. Once they were alone, he set Mote down and sat in a chair. "Now, then. What's the problem?"

"Goda..." Mote hesitated, then blurted it out. "Are we bad people?"

"Bad... people?" Goda's face darkened. Mote nodded.

"All the people... the Knights and Generals and Captains, and the soldiers... they're all scared of us. They call us... freaks and... and monsters..."

"Do they address you by those names?" Goda demanded, fist clenching. "Show me which ones, and I'll-"

"No, no." Mote quickly shook his head. "Don't kill them, big brother... they just whisper those things, about all five of us, inside their heads... they never say them. Their thoughts..."

"Ah..." Goda shifted uncomfortably. "Mote... we're not really... bad people. Cort and Cerl... and Lord Jade, you like them, right?"

"I like THEM, yeah..." Mote paused for a moment, considering how to put his thoughts into words. "I like Cort and Cerl and Jade... but I don't think I like Blue and White and Gold... and I don't know if I like Black and Red either, big brother..."

"Mote..." Goda held his hands up, then let them drop helplessly. "We can't just be Goda and Mote anymore, we have to be Black and Red too. That's why Lord Jade took us in... to make us part of his Tiamat Unit. We're destined for that... you know all this. And..." He sighed. "That means... sometimes, Mote, you have to take the part of you that doesn't like the things that Red has to do, and put that part away in your heart... stop listening to it. We don't have a choice in that sometimes."

"Can we... do that?" Mote asked, awed. Goda stared at him for a moment, wondering if he had made a mistake, but the Black Warrior could not fully comprehend what his little brother was thinking.

"Yeah, Mote... that's what me, and Cort and Cerl and Jade... that's what we do. Like... when we're going to go to the Fusion Clan soon. We'll do that then."

"I'll try that, then... I don't like it, but I'll try. Thanks, big brother." Mote started to go, then stopped. "Goda... what about Emperor Zog? I can't get into his mind... it's a whirlwind. Does he... put away the part of him that's not a bad person too?"

"Emperor Zog... is something different." Goda's face darkened again. "He's... complicated. Too complicated... I'll explain it to you some other time." Mote nodded and ran off. At that point, the memory began to replay itself again.

"Mote... he took Goda's advice literally, didn't he?" Mogu stared at the prisoner who was barely taller than him. "So, you're... his good side?"

"In essence... yes." The prisoner nodded. "Mote's morals, his feelings, a lot of his emotions... he locked them all away, and has been doing almost entirely without them for nine years. Occasionally, he'll draw upon me for a minor bit, but not often."

"So... what do we call you? And what do you want to do?" Ryu scratched his head. Even the Light Dragon had been thrown a little by this revelation.

"Call me... Conscience, I guess." The prisoner shrugged. "And... as for what I want..." He smiled sadly. "The same thing you do, I guess. Mote... I... have seen a lot of things. The fight between you and him is inevitable... and I want him to lose."

"But that means..." Deis started. Conscience nodded gravely.

"Yeah. But it has to happen. Here..." He concentrated, and the back wall of the cell fell apart, revealing stairs leading upward. There was an angry rumbling from all around. "Go! This way leads into the tower proper. I'll try to keep Mote from just dropping the ceiling on you... if he gets too angry, he won't even care about what's supposed to happen any more. But I don't have as much energy as him... you have to find him and take him out, fast!"

"That's what we do best, kid!" Bo took off up the stairs, with the others following. The room they came out in had a pair of Springs of Life flanking a large vase on a pedestal, and a doorway behind that.

"Let's grab a quick drink, then motor." Gobi suggested. They did so, then climbed past the vase. As he passed it, Ryu turned his head back around on an impulse. Where it had been a moment before, the Spirit of Ladon was gravely watching them.

"Yah!" Ryu jumped. "What are you... doing here?"

"Watching you." Ladon answered. "Despite your anger towards me, I still have great interest in ensuring your safety and success."

"You do, huh." Ryu frowned. All the others were silent, watching the confrontation without a word. "And what about the safety and success of the Tiamat Unit?"

"I have watched over them for ten years and more already." Ladon spread his hands. "And they... they are prepared for whatever will happen to them."

"I see." Ryu smiled again, grimly. "Well, whatever. Now's not really the time for us to have this out. But when we're done with Mote, be at the Temple in Spring, okay? I'm not saying I'll let myself be turned into a chess piece again, but we do need to talk when we have the time." If Ladon was offended by Ryu's tone, he hid it perfectly.

"Whenever you need to speak to me, I will be there." The Dragon God nodded, then turned back into the vase again. Ryu watched it for a moment, then whirled and stalked through the door. What was on the other side made all of them stop and stare. Thin, fragile-looking glass formed narrow walkways that extended out over a starry black void. There were no railings, and the walkways were mazelike, bending and turning every which way.

"This isn't real." Deis somewhat nervously reminded them. "It's all the dream world. That glass is just a manifestation of part of Mote's mind."

"I'll go first." Ox decided. "If it doesn't drop me like an anchor, none of you will have any problems." The big Builder Clanner gingerly stepped onto the walkway, his hooves clinking on the glass. There wasn't even a crack. Shrugging, the others followed him on. There were no walls in this void; the walkways had dead-ends, but there was still starry darkness beyond them, never ending.

"Look for a door." Mogu guessed. "Probably just hanging without any wall at one of these dead ends."

"Just a second... got it." Bo nodded approvingly. "That way. Nice work, Mogu." Of course, actually getting to the door was somewhat more challenging for everybody but Nina, but eventually they managed it. When they left the glass walkway maze, they emerged back into the tower proper. Ahead of them were two staircases, both leading up. In front of the leftmost one was a glowing yellow floor tile, and in front of the rightmost, glowing purple.

"Now what's up with THIS, I wonder." Ryu muttered. Mogu frowned.

"Nobody touch those... I've got a bad feeling." Prying a pebble out of the wall with one claw, he tossed it onto the yellow tile. The pebble sizzled and blackened. Another pebble on the purple tile produced the same results.

"Right, no touching the tiles." Karn added unneccessarily. Unfortunately, as they climbed further up, that was easier said than done; the glowtiles were often strategically placed to make passage difficult and dangerous, sometimes even leaving no choice but to hurdle them, a method that got Deis a singed tail (and the others a lesson in cursing in extinct languages). To make matters worse, the memories were on the walls again, and this time they weren't so pleasant; Mote sending waves of fear through anybody who saw him, snapping creatures' necks like twigs with his long fingers, driving an unfortunate underling hopelessly insane with one thought, making another one's head explode in a fountain of blood... the heroes tried to ignore these mostly, but it wasn't possible to do so completely. Eventually, they reached a room with five seperate staircases stairing at them, each leading up.

"We don't really want to know where four of these go, do we?" Ox asked calmly. Ryu shook his head.

"No, I don't think we do. Any ideas, guys?"

"That one." Mogu pointed at the second one from the right. "Look. Wet footprints are on there... small ones. None of the others."

"Nicely spotted." Ryu congratulated the Mole Clan boy. "Let's go on up." Walking up that staircase, they found themselves in a large room. Two clusters of pillars with torches in their sides lit it at the front. And sitting in the back, on a simple stone throne, was a short figure in purple robes with blood-red skin, watching their every move. Mote's hood was still down, and he was smiling as cruelly as always.

"Ha! You fools... outsiders who think they can take control of MY world away from me!"

"This may be your world, but we're not part of it." Ryu retorted. "Mote, you made a big mistake bringing us here... now, we're going to take you apart, piece by piece!"  
"Brave words from a Light Dragon who can't even control his own heart!" Mote sneered. "Ryu the Light Dragon, killer of the evil Dark Dragons! But you don't just kill them... you hate them, don't you? You want all the Dark Dragons in the world DEAD, Ryu!"

"...No." Ryu shook his head. "Maybe once... but not anymore. I just want them stopped. You, though... are an entirely different matter. Here and now, Mote... you die."

"We'll see if you can really pull it off!" Mote laughed, highly amused. "Come on, then! Give it a shot!" His hands darted out, blood-red spiders pulling puppetstrings, and the entire world changed around them. Everything was black... then red... than a variety of colors, shifting and flashing at lightspeed, blindingly. Mote hovered in the air, sneering at them. Growling, Deis threw out a chain of fireballs with a dragon's head. Mote laughed and sent the pieces of it scattering like a spilled bag of marbles. Ox and Gobi rushed forward, weapons ready... and pulled back just in time as they were turned upon each other.

"What did I tell you, fools?" Mote yawned. "I am the Red Dreammaster, and this is the world of dreams! You can do nothing here... I hold total command!"

"Not total!" Mogu yelled. "In my mind, your Mothro was able to take control... we can do the same here!"

"You fool, who do you think you're talking to?" The Red Dreammaster laughed maniacally. "I am MOTE! No creature alive can wrest control of MY mind from me!" He flicked a hand, and Mogu went sailing into Nina, knocking her out of the sky. Roaring angrily, Ryu became the Fire Dragon and released a stream of fire like the one Deis had summoned. This time, Mote did not scatter it, but turned it around and wrapped it around Ryu's neck.

"Damn it, there's got to be something!" Karn yelled as he and Bo threw and fired their weapons. In midair, they suddenly made complete turnarounds as well, heading for their wielders, who barely managed to dodge.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Mote snickered. "Come on, boys and girls... where's that destiny of yours? Where's the power of the Party of Light?" Suddenly, he disappeared, and each of them was staring at seven Motes where their friends had been. The Red Dreammaster's voice came mockingly from each mouth. "Give me a break! You guys beat Cort? Must have been a fluke... no way are you better than him!"

"Close your eyes!" Mogu yelled in sudden realization. "All of this is just illusion... Mote's tricking us! Close your eyes and he can't fool you!" The heroes obliged. "Well, Mote? Where's your bravado now?" The Mole Clanner taunted.

"Fool!" Mote laughed, and eight heads followed the sound of his voice. "You think I'm just... whoa!" He dodged left to avoid a thrown knife, then jumped an arrow before ducking under a stream of fire. "Not bad, but... yow!" More attacks came his way, as the heroes followed the sound of his voice. "Argh! Right, that's IT! No more Mister Nice Mote!"

"On the contrary." Mote's voice came from behind them, and they all turned around, opening their eyes involuntarily. Conscience was standing there, bracing himself against the nonexistent wall. "Mister Nice Mote is right here... to stay!"

"You!" Mote howled. "How did you... YOU! You all let him out!"

"Exactly." Conscience nodded, smiling grimly. "This is it for us, Mote... you know it as well as I do! Here and now is the end of the Red Dreammaster!"

"SHUT UP!" Mote screamed, growing hysterical. "You don't know anything! You've been gone for years!"

"No, I haven't." Conscience shook his head. "I've been here all along in the back of your head... you were never able to completely get rid of me. And now I'm back for the end of our life. Now stop all this fooling around, Mote... and fight them with your true power!" He turned to Ryu. "Get ready, Ryu... I'm going to block all of his tricks and illusions, so he'll have no choice but to transform!" The area around them stopped shifting, pausing on blackness everywhere.

"You TRAITOR!" Mote shrieked, beyond reason now. "When I'm done with them, I'll tear you out of my skull with my own hands! But first, I'll do what Cort couldn't!" Laughing maniacally, he rose into the air, glowing with seperate beams of light flying out from him in every direction. The beams dissipated, revealing... a blur. A blur of purple and red color, smeared beyond recognition, like trying to see through eyes squinted almost closed.

"What the..." Ryu blinked as well as he could as a dragon. "Never mind! Kill it!" He launched a chain of fire, which... passed right through the blur. He stared. "Huh?"

"_Hee hee hee_..." Even Mote's voice was distorted. "_Even now, you cannot harm me!_" The blur began flashing a rainbow of colors, and then it charged, smashing into Ryu. Growling, Bo sent a flurry of arrows, even though he expected them to go through harmlessly. They didn't. Mote screamed as the arrows lodged in his side. "_Aaah! Filthy Forest Clanner, I'll rip out your tongue for that!_"

"Rip out this!" Ox grunted, slamming his sledge home. Mote howled and went flying towards Gobi, who speared him away with a thrust from his pike. The Maniro blinked.

"Hey, look at him!" The blur was clarifying, becoming more visible with each attack that hit home.

"Good job!" Deis grinned, raising her staff. "Now it's my turn! Got something special, just for you, slime!"

"Wait!" Mogu yelled, but it was too late. Deis yelled, and there was a flash of bright light that blinded everybody for a second accompanying a tremendous explosion. However, Mote did not seem affected; he was actually blurrier than he had been a moment before!

"_Ha... that felt good!_"

"The HELL!" Deis swore. "What is the DEAL here?"

"Magic!" Mogu answered her. "He's immune to magic while he's blurry; just goes through him! Only physical attacks!" Demonstrating, he ran forward and carved into Mote with his claws, and the shrieking blur became more clear again.

"Sounds like a plan, Mogu!" Ryu grinned, diving forward with fangs and claws. "Dogpile on the Dreammaster!" Mote slammed around, ramming them one by one as they assaulted him, but he was unable to inflict any fatal injuries. Ryu and Mogu raked with fangs and claws; Nina and Gobi thrust with rapier and pike; Ox and Deis slammed with sledge and staff; Bo and Karn pierced with arrows and knives. Conscience watched the entire fight without a word. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Red Dreammaster's monstrous form was fully visible. It seemed like some kind of nightmarish fusion of a squid and a mushroom. The black cap on top was laced with red streaks, and below it dangled purple tentacles covered with suckers. On the front was no face but a gaping, ribbed red hole that was apparently a mouth.

"NOW, Ryu and Deis!" Mogu snapped with uncharacteristic command. "Magic! Hit him hard!" Without taking time to respond, the Light Dragon and the Sorceress complied, sandwiching Mote between the nova explosion and the Fire Dragon's deadly breath. Mote crumpled and fell to the floor... then rose back up, freshly blurred.

"_Now... I'm... MAD!_" He howled, and a pillar of fire rose from beneath Ox, completely immolating him.

"OX!" Ryu yelled, but the big Builder Clanner was down. Mote laughed, turning his front towards Nina.

"_Ha ha ha! Come on, Light Dragons! Try and finish me off before I get you all!_" Nina shrieked as the inferno blasted her and fell to the ground, hitting it hard. With strength born of desperation, the remaining heroes began plowing into Mote with everything they had, even as one by one, he turned the pillar of fire upon them. Nobody got back up after they were targeted; first Gobi, then Bo, and then Karn went down. Finally, Mote was clear again, and Ryu and Deis hit him with another double-whammy.

"Did we get the bugger?" Deis muttered, then yelled in pain as the fires covered her. Mote was so blurred, it was hard to see how much damage was done, but he was still going.

"_Ha ha ha! Die! You can't do it! Die, all of you!_"

"No... nobody's dying today, you scum!" Mogu yelled, charging forward. Before Ryu could stop him, the Mole Clan boy had dived on Mote, ripping and tearing madly with his claws without even pausing to think. "You... will... not... hurt... my... friends... ever... AGAIN!"

"_Aaah!_" Mote turned the flame upon Mogu now... and still the little mole kept attacking, despite the agony that had claimed the others.  
"I was never... any good!" Mogu gritted between clenched teeth. "I was always the loser... the fool! The little kid trying to be better than he was! Then they came... made me one of them! Never treated me like... a failure! And I'm... not going to BE one! Do you hear me, Mote? NEVER AGAIN!" Mote tried to focus his flames again, but nothing came forth. Chunks of black and purple flesh were flying everywhere. Conscience suddenly yelled as he was pulled forward by some intense force.

"_I... don't feel so good..._" Mote warbled before Conscience knocked Mogu off of him and they came together with a flash. Suddenly, the black was gone. They were back at the top of the tower, and there was only one Mote standing there. A Mote with blood-red skin and purple robes, but also a sad smile and the eyes of a child. And he was fading... they could see through him, like a ghost. All of them could.

"Huh?" Ox muttered. "I'm... alive? I thought..."

"No... my fire only knocked you out." Mote shook his head. "And even that wasn't completely real. It's been fixed now anyways... you've won. You killed me. Mogu... killed me for all of you." He faded more.

"So... which one are you?" Ryu asked. Mote thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I am both... and neither. And it really doesn't matter. I... have to thank you. I can rest in peace now." He stared up towards the sky. "I'm sorry... but I have to go now. Cort is... waiting for me... he always gets impatient when somebody keeps him waiting. Goodbye..." And then he was gone.

"Look... out the window." Nina pointed. The sickly yellow sky was changing color, becoming orange... and then a brilliant, ruby red. The dream world wavered and faded, and was gone.

"Huh...?" Barry the Climber said, none too brightly. The heroes, as well as the other inhabitants of the dream world, were on the top floor of Spyre.

"Everybody here?" Ryu asked.

"Yes." Myst nodded. "You must have killed Mote... good work!"

"Yeah..." Mogu nodded, glancing over to the pillar where the Sky Key had been. A small, crumpled body in purple robes was lying, lifeless, in front of it. Ryu silently walked over and took the Sky Key from the spiderlike fingers.

"We're not going to have to fight YOU now, are we?" Karn joked, and Myst laughed.

"No, no. Take it... you've more than proven yourself worthy of it." He disappeared. Ryu turned to the others.

"All right... Barry, was it? Do you know a way out of here? The way we came in is kind of... one way." Barry nodded.

"There are some low windows near trees we can jump into."

"Good." Ryu started to walk away, then stopped. "Right... fix the weather." Walking over to the nearby stone slab, he inserted the Key. "Does anybody know how to make this thing work... ah!"

_Simply think what you wish, and it shall come to pass._ A strange, obscurely familiar female voice whispered into his mind. Ryu shrugged and imagined Spring as Tina had told them of it... bright and green, and full of life. The machine hummed, then stopped.

"Let's hope that did it..." Ryu removed the Sky Key and placed it in the same pouch as the others. Suddenly, everybody else made assorted sounds of surprise. Ryu whirled around to see something he was already half-expecting. The Tiamat Unit member in the grey robes was standing there, holding Mote's body without much effort.

"The undertaker again." Ryu growled. "Who are you, buddy? Silver something? You must be something special for the Tiamat Unit to take you... as far as I know, you're the only addition since it formed ten years ago." The Silver whatever watched him silently, then nodded. Ryu started forward, and the Silver whatever jumped back, still holding Mote. A flash of light, and it was gone. Ryu turned around, shaking his head.

"That one... something wierd about it."

"We'll run into it and deal with it eventually, I'm sure." Nina sighed. "But for now, can we get out of here? A big meal, a warm bath and a soft bed back in Spring sound REALLY good right now."

"Ask, and ye shall recieve." Barry grinned. "For turning the weather back, the people in town will do anything you want. Come on, heroes, the lower floors are this way."


	16. Chapter 15: You Hate Time Travel, I Hate...

**__**

Chapter 15: You Hate Time Travel, I Hate Time Travel...

"After countless centuries since the end of the Dragon War, the seven Goddess Keys have finally reemerged into the world." Emperor Zog seethed. "And yet I possess only TWO, while Ryu the Terrorist has FIVE!" He swept his mad gaze around the audience chamber, taking in those observing him. The lesser officers, some hiding their fear, some not... White, her beautiful face angry and defiant but restrained, under control... Black, a motionless lump of sorrow whose eyes spoke of a deperate need to kill something... Silver, emotionless as always in the void beneath her hood... Jade, his frozen face twitching only slightly with the whirlwind of emotions raging under it... and the two empty thrones that none dared even glance at. "And not only that, but two members of my glorious Tiamat Unit have fallen in their duty! TWO!" Roaring, the Emperor lunged forward and smashed a pillar to gravel with his armored fist. "This insolence... this audacity shall NOT go unpunished!"

"It shall not indeed, my Emperor." Jade agreed, voice calm and cool. "I swear to you upon my title as the Gold Lord, Ryu and his ragged lot shall pay with their miserable lives for what they have done to us... to some of us in particular." Goda made a hoarse, animal grunt. "We shall have our vengeance, and we shall make the five Goddess Keys remaining OURS."

"As always, I place my entire trust in my glorious Tiamat Unit." Zog sat back in his throne. "You have always served me faithfully, and never failed me once. I would be a foolish man indeed not to heed you now." A few of the stupider officers started to mumble some commentary on this to their fellows, but stopped as Goda's eyes snapped onto them. Jade and Silver were indecipherable, but the mood on the Black Warrior's face was crystal clear to even the most idiotic Knight. Emperor Zog continued speaking as if nothing had happened. "Even now, I am sure, the spirits of the Blue Alchemist and the Red Dreammaster watch over us at Ladon's side. They cry for vengeance. It shall not be denied them. What are your plans, my Gold Lord?"

"There is as yet one place of importance between the terrorist group and Scande." Jade explained. "The town of Carmen, and the former lands of the Fusion Clan. I'm sure everybody here remembers that area." He smirked, a rare occurance, and the lesser officers blanched to a man. "Good times... even if, by reports, we missed a few. Oh well, nobody's perfect. At any rate, they will most likely be coming through there."

"Ah... so, what do you advise we do?" Zog asked. "Soldiers, perhaps?" Jade shook his head.

"No. As we had proven to us in the Lands of the East, they are largely ineffective against this enemy. The Tiamat Unit shall be dispatching another of its members... one who soldiers would only be a liability for." Zog raised an eyebrow, surveying the remaining members.

"White?"

"Correct, your majesty." Cerl nodded. "Normally, the present circumstances would suggest taking another of our number with me, but I work best alone. And I am definately the best choice for this matter... seeing as how I know the territory better than anybody else here."

"I don't think anybody will dispute that claim, White." Zog grinned. "I won't argue with your choice... you know your abilities better than I do, all of you. But White... don't fail me. If you fall as well, they will reach Scande. DON'T let that happen." Cerl bowed.

"I won't, my emperor. A legacy from Red shall ensure it. They shall not pass." The mad Emperor nodded.

"Very well. Dismissed, then." The lesser officers filed out first, and the Tiamat Unit after them, leaving the Gold Lord to converse in private with Emperor Zog as usual. Once they were away from the Unit, the officers began conversing about the events.

"And they called us stupid!" One General, Zurm, was saying to a friend at the rear of the crowd. "We all know what's going to happen. She'll get taken out just like the others."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say." The other General, Pess, laughed quietly. "And then they'll come here and take the others down too. Maybe even the Emperor."

"Might be time for us to jump ship, eh?" Zurm nodded. "It's a thought, Pess. I sure don't want to wind up like those monstrosities... Ryu the Terrorist showed good judgement in cutting 'em down, I say. World's better off." Unfortunately for the two Generals, they had not taken into account the hearing range of certain superiors, as well as their positions at the rear. Even as Pess nodded, there was a bellow of rage. Zurm turned to see death bearing down upon him like a force of nature, as Goda slammed his cinderblock fist into the General's chest. Zurm's back exploded in red; blood, shattered bone and other, less mentionable things blasted out as if he was a grenade, splattering several other officers as well as the walls and ruining the carpet. General Pess turned to run, but Goda had not come alone. Silver was waiting. Her hands pressed against either side of the General's head, almost gently, and it glowed. The next moment, the head was simply gone, a waft of smoke rising from the neck hole as the body collapsed without even a drop of blood. The other officers fled, screaming. Goda stared at them, nostrils flaring, even as the husk of General Zurm slid off of his fist, but Silver laid a hand on his arm.

"Enough, Black. They've recieved the message... none of them will ever say anything about your brother or Blue ever again." Leading him by the arm, she took him back to the Tiamat Unit's quarters, where Cerl and Jade were waiting for them.

"I take it two positions on the General staff just became vacant?" Jade inquired dryly. Goda nodded without a word. The Black Warrior seldom spoke at all these days. He went to wash his hand off in the back, and Jade turned to Cerl. "All right then. I think we both know what you need."

"The Time Key?" Silver asked. Cerl nodded.

"Yes. Like the King Key, it was hidden far away from where it was actually meant to be used. The place where its powers can be unleashed is the tower of Tock, near Carmen. That Key will be an integral part of my defense against Ryu. However..."

"However, Emperor Zog is about as likely to let you leave here with it as he is to eat his crown." Jade smiled grimly. "So, Cerl, you'll need to use all of your art here, even before you leave."

"Steal the Time Key?" Silver was surprised. "If the Emperor finds out..."

"He won't." Cerl assured her. "Come on, Sil... back up your own gender. I'll be fine."

"If you say it, I believe it is so." Silver nodded. "Just... be careful, White."

"I always am. Tell Black I said goodbye. I'll see you all around." With a blur of motion towards the ceiling, Cerl was gone.

"Anybody know where Karn is?" Ox asked as he walked into the inn's common room. "It's been a while since I last saw him or Mogu, and that makes me nervous."

"Yeah, we know." Bo stretched. "Gobi's gone, too... last time anybody saw them was two days ago."

"And nobody knows where they went?" Ox scratched his head.

"Nope." Deis confirmed. "We figure they know what they're doing, since they waited until now to do this, when we're taking some off time. Still, I'd hate to be them when they get back unless they have a good explanation for the boss." Ox nodded, sitting down at the table.

"Yeah... and even if they do, he'll probably go on for at least an hour. Where is he right now, anyways?"

"Fishing." Bo shrugged. "At the duck pond. As usual. It relaxes him. Granted, this entire place relaxes us, but that helps him even more. Nina's out there with them."

"I didn't know that." Deis smirked. "Shouldn't they be chaperoned?" Ox and Bo glanced at each other.

"You tell her." The big Builder Clanner said. Bo sighed.

"No... they have a problem. I assume you know about the Wing Clan's Great Bird ability?"

"Yeah, I know." Deis nodded. "Oh... they have a law against relationships outside the Clan, don't they?"

"Er... it's even worse than that." Bo shook his head. "Since she's the princess, if she breaks the rules, it'll be setting an example to the entire Clan. One she can't afford to. Responsibility and all that." The sorceress made a rude noise.

"This is why I always avoided positions of authority. They suck. How's the boss taking it?"

"Better than most would." Bo admitted. "He doesn't try to push her about it. He just kind of smiles and shrugs and pretends it doesn't bother him much. Out there, they're probably just making small talk, or not even saying anything at all... that's all they can do, really."

"Yeah." Deis bit her lip. "We're going to have to do something about that, though."

"Oh, not me." Ox held up his hands. "I'm absolutely useless at this kind of thing."

"You're the one who went after her when she broke down." Bo objected. Ox nodded.

"Yeah, but then all I had to do was listen and give her an arm to cry on. That, I'm good at. But actually solving the problem? I'd just make it worse."

"Well, you're married, aren't you?" Deis demanded.

"Yeah, but we didn't have any problems with that." Ox shook his head. "We're both just ordinary folks in our clan."

"Fine, fine." She gave in. "Me and Bo will think of something. There's no way we're just letting this slide, though. Think we'll have time to sort it out before we get going?"

"Eh... doubt it." Bo frowned. "I think as soon as those three idiots-sorry, two idiots and Mogu-get back, we'll be hitting the road again. Maybe next time we take some time off."

"Maybe..." Deis frowned. "Will we get more time off? What's still between us and Scande, anyways?"

"Well, there's a town called Carmen." Ox thought for a moment. "Also, some other old tower... think it's called Tock. And south of those, the former lands of the Fusion Clan. With all of that, I'd guess we'll run afoul of at least one more Tiamat Unit member before we make it to Scande. Wonder which one it'll be." Deis made a face.

"Hope it's the White Assassin. We've already had our obligatory butt-kicking by her, so we can cut to the chase."

"Obligatory butt-kicking?" Ox frowned. Bo nodded.

"Yeah. Haven't you noticed? The first time we meet any of the Tiamat Unit, they kick our butts. Cort shrunk us, Mote sent us into dreamland, and Cerl got away with the Time Key. So we figure the same sort of thing'll happen whenever we actually meet Goda, Jade and the Silver Whatever."

"Let's just hope we don't have to get one from Emperor Zog, too." Deis added. Ox sighed.

"You two worry me."

"Hey, one thing I've learned in my life-and it's been a long life-is that you can never underestimate Ladon's willingness to make things wierd." Deis yawned.

"Amen to THAT." Karn agreed. All three of them turned their heads to see the cheeky thief walk in, trailed by Gobi and Mogu. They were dripping wet.

"Ah, the runaways return." Bo smirked. "You three are in for it when the boss comes back."

"Oh, he's already here." Ryu informed them, walking in with Nina behind Karn. "All right, Karn. You're the ringleader of this little absence, aren't you? Start talking."

"It's really rather simple, boss." Karn looked tired, but happy. "The next survivor of my Clan is a quite a bit away from here. Actually, his house is underground; completely closed off. So when we had some off time, I talked Gobi into taking me there and Mogu into coming along to dig our way in."

"Hold it." Nina blinked. "You've only been gone for two days. How did you get to the ocean that fast?"

"The river just outside this town." Gobi explained. "After it goes underneath Spyre, it stays underground all the way out to the ocean. Dark Dragons can't watch THAT. Coming back up against the flow was a pain, though."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Ryu sighed. "Well, this thing had better be good. Let's see it." Karn nodded and motioned for Ox and Bo.

"Come on, you two. Selecting for strength and speed this time."

"No helping it, I guess." Ox sighed as he and Bo walked over. Karn concentrated.

"Fusios Karn Taurus Ox Canus Bo! Fusios Doof! Doof!" There was the customary flash of bright light, and then the fusion was visible. Doof, as he was apparently named, was... very, very big. His legs were like oak trunks, and his arms not much different. He wore blue, spiked metal armor that made Nina wince just looking at it. His head was buried in a mass of long hair, both front and back, his face barely visible. And protruding from his forehead were a pair of long, curved horns that came forward like a fork. The entire fusion was at least ten feet tall, and almost as wide.

"Well." Deis blinked. "That should do quite a job on our enemies in the mass times acceleration department."

"I guess so." Ryu nodded. "All right, this was worth it. But revert for now, okay? You'll scare the townspeople."

"If you insist..." Doof closed his eyes and split back up.

"So, do we leave tomorrow, boss?" Mogu asked, speaking for the first time since they had returned. Ryu slowly nodded.

"Guess we should... we've stayed here long enough. Yeah, we are. So I should get on with the talk, then. You guys stay here and just kick back... I can take care of this." Sighing, he left the Inn and walked towards the local Temple of Ladon. Waiting for it to clear, he then entered.

"Ryu." Ladon greeted him. "How are you?"

"Better than I was on that day back in Gust." Ryu admitted wryly. "I'm not exactly comfortable here, still. And I had a fight with Nina over it too, which made me even crankier later."

"Is that settled?" Ladon asked, a bit concerned. Ryu shrugged and smiled.

"Mostly... but that's a different matter. After that was patched up, though, I realized I hadn't exactly been behaving appropriately... both there and here." He sighed. "You've helped us out. A lot. I shouldn't be getting angry because you know more about what's going on than we do."

"I still can't tell you everything, Ryu." Ladon admitted. "I'm sorry, but I can't. But... I want you and your friends to succeed, Ryu. That much, I can promise you."

"That'll do for me." Ryu grinned. "But with all due respect, I don't think I'll be becoming a Priest when this is all done." Ladon grinned back.

"In all honesty, I never really expected you to... that wasn't your purpose from the beginning."

"Then we're fine." Ryu gravely shook the Dragon God's hand. "We'll be heading south tomorrow. Anything you can tell me about Carmen?" Ladon's face grew serious.

"Be on your guard, Ryu. Things have already begun to move into motion down there. You are approaching the end of your quest, but before that, you will have to go through something that may be very hard, especially for one of you in particular. Be ready." Ryu nodded.

"I will. See you around, then." Waving, he left the Temple and returned to the inn.

"Still can't believe we had to walk through the freakin' WATERFALL to get into the tunnel..." Karn was grumbling as the group approached the town of Carmen. Gobi rolled his eyes.

"Enough, already. Sheesh. Water is good for you; believe me, I know. And besides, you dried out quickly enough once we were back out in the sun. Look, there's the town."

"Doesn't look like much." Nina commented. "Barely more than a village."

"Just like home." Ryu smiled. "My own town was about this size."

"Carmen is the smallest of the six areas of note-well, seven if you count Tunlan-in the Lands of the East." Gobi explained. "Scande, of course, is the largest. Odd contrast to have these two so close, but it sort of makes sense if you think about it. Come on, let's head to the inn and see if-" He fell silent instantly, and stared forward along with the others. Spring and Gust had had problems, problems that were evident upon first sight. This, however... went beyond a problem. Something in Carmen... was very, VERY wrong.

"What the HELL?" Deis demanded, summing it up. "They're frozen!"

"Not just the people." Bo growled. "The air... the heat... look around. EVERYTHING's stopped." It seemed as if the entire town of Carmen had decided, at one point, that it would stop moving. It was frozen in time. People moving down the streets, children laughing and playing, water being poured into a trough, pigs rooting through a garden, even a bird flying through the air. It was all motionless, statuelike. There was no wind, no heat, and underneath their feet, the ground felt harder than the toughest steel. None of them wanted to touch anything else to find out if it was the same, particularly not the people.

"Tiamat Unit." Ryu spat. "Has to be. Nobody else on this planet could even come close to doing something this radical. And I'll bet I know how... even THEY couldn't do this without the help of something even more powerful than them."

"The Time Key." Karn's eyes narrowed. "So by my guess, it'll be the White Assassin who's behind this. She stole the Key, she'd want to be the one to use it. The question is, where is she now? Doubt she's here..."

"Huh? Hello! Is somebody over there?" A new voice yelled. Looking where it was coming from, they saw a young man running towards them. Like the other residents of Carmen, he was human, although his skin was somewhat darker than the others. "You're... not frozen!"

"Neither are you, we see." Nina smiled. "We're just passing through... we're not form here. You are, I take it?"

"Yes... my name's Alan." The young man loked around, worried. "I have no idea what happened here. I went up north for a few days, and when I came back, this place was... like this!" The heroes exchanged a few glances.

"We... think somebody might be using a Goddess Key to do this." Ryu said after a moment. "The Time Key." Alan's face paled.

"Then... they must be at Tock!"

"Tock?" Gobi blinked. "Even I've never heard of that..." Alan pointed towards the east. A tower, not as tall as Spyre but still impressive, poked upward into the sky.

"They say that in the War of the Dragons, Tock was used along with the Time Key as a horrible weapon... nobody goes anywhere near it anymore except for the occasional daredevil."

"That definately sounds like the place we need to go." Deis nodded. "How do we get to this Tock?" Alan hesitated for a moment, then gave in.

"Head south from here. Once you reach a clump of trees, go east along the cliffs. You'll soon reach a trail that'll lead you up to the top of those cliffs. Tock'll be there."

"Thanks." Ryu smiled. "We'll head up there tomorrow... see what we can do about this. We're kind of professionals when it comes to this kind of thing." Alan nodded.

"Thank you. I'll stay here... see if anything happens." Gobi shuddered.

"Your choice, friend... we'll probably camp outside. It's eerie here." Nobody disputed that.

"Watch out for Gold Dogfish, then." Alan advised. "Sometimes they'll actually come out of the water and flop around in the mud to get a bite out of something... or somebody." Nina shuddered.

"Thanks for the warning." The timefreeze ended twenty feet away from the edge of the town; once they were away from there, they made camp and slept like on any other night. The next morning, as they had told Alan, the group immediately made for Tock. The tower of the Time Key was unremarkable; carved of light grey stone, the only noticable think about it was how its curved walls were perfectly circular, and the top equally flattened off. Inside, it appeared to be just another labyrinth. Soon, though, they found something far different. A steel plate in the floor, with a glowing light panel in the shape of an arrow.

"What's THIS all about?" Deis wondered. Karn shrugged.

"Only one way to find out..." Before anybody could stop him, he stepped onto the arrow tile. The effect was decidedly strange; he vanished, then appeared several feet away, in the direction the arrow was pointing. "Whoa... wierd. But cool. Hey, there's another one over here, pointing towards a wall!"

"Karn, wait!" Bo yelled, again too late. Karn had vanished.

"Hey, it worked!" His voice yelled, muffled by the wall. "Come on, guys! We probably have to use these things to get through here!" Sighing, the rest of the group followed suit. It turned out he was right; by using the arrow tiles, they soon found the stairs up. The following floors were different variants on the arrow tile theme. The second had four main rooms with very narrow hallways outside that required them to take the first tile in their path. The third was actually a combination of two levels, one raised and one lowered, with the arrow tiles the only way between them. And the fourth floor... even Karn groaned when he saw the checkerboard pattern of arrow tiles seemingly pointed in random directions throughout. That floor was only conquered thanks to Nina calling out instructions from overhead. It was a very tired and irritated group that emerged onto the fifth floor and walked down the long hall towards the end.

"Did you have fun down there?" A female voice asked sweetly. All of the heroes dodged or defended as a flying knife came at their heads. When they looked up, Cerl, the White Assassin, was standing on a rise in the floor in front of them. "We meet again. Shall we skip the introductions? I think we all know each other well enough already..."

"Yes, I suppose we do." Deis growled. "And no, we didn't have fun. Those mazes were quite the aggravation."

"You're ones to talk about aggravation." Cerl made a rude noise. "You've caused me and my unit all sorts of trouble. Now, though... now it ends."

"Oh, really?" Karn snickered. "Eight against one, lady. It didn't turn out so well for your friends, and it won't for you."

"Ah, but I've got something they don't!" Cerl reminded him. "Time is on my side! See for yourself!" She made a motion with one hand, and between her and the group, the air itself opened up into a hole of absolute darkness. Ryu recoiled at first, thinking it was an attack, but it made no motions. Then it flashed, and suddenly the window was the only thing that WASN'T dark. Instead, it now showed a still image. The town of Carmen, still frozen.

"Yeah, you did that... we noticed." Gobi remarked dryly. Cerl laughed richly.

"I'm glad you did. I view it as a work of art, myself... so what do you think of it? The entire town, frozen in place. Never changing. The people there will never grow older... they will live for as long as this remains. The plants will never wilt, the water will never dry up, the weather will never change. It will all remain this way... always."

"Get to the point." Karn said sharply. "Art, shmart. If you're an artist, I'm a snow macaque. What's the real reason you did this?" Cerl laughed again, much more evilly.

"If you insist... the real reason was to show you all. Show you what I could do with this Time Key, with the power of the Goddess Keys. And this is only the beginning!"

"The beginning?" Deis blinked.

"That's right. I kind of like the town this way. Who knows? Soon, I might do this to the entire world!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Bo yelled. "You do that, and you'll never accomplish yur goal... you'll never get all the Goddess Keys!"

"Yes, won't it be wonderful?" Cerl giggled. "Never reaching the end... the final chapter of the story never coming. Everybody in the world, knowing what should come, but forever stopped, never knowing the result... caught in anticipation forever! How glorious it will be!"

"You're just as insane as Mote was... and Cort, too, from what I've heard." Mogu realized.

"And if I am?" Cerl challenged. "Who's to say you're not all insane as well? Not as though it matters... you're not the ones who will decide what happens here. The one with the power of time is me, and only me!" And then, somebody in the window on Carmen moved. "Huh?" It was Alan, the young man they had met there. "Who? Who is that? How did he escape the time freeze?"

"He was out of town at the time." Ox informed her. "So you didn't get him. His name's Alan, if that matters." None of them were expecting the White Assassin's reaction.

"Alan! No! No, it can't be!" She shrieked. "You lie! Even if he looks... no!" The darkness around them was sucked back into the window in the air. Behind it, Cerl's teeth were bared like a wolf. "I've had enough of you for now! If you're smart, you'll find someplace you enjoy and wait for the world to stop! Begone!" Before anybody could react, the window pulsed. The world around them wavered as they were drawn inside. Everything went black, and the only thing they heard was Cerl's mocking laughter.

"Ugh..." Ryu slowly regained consciousness. "What the hell. Don't want to do THAT again..." He looked around. It was night, and he was lying with his back against a phenomenally large tree. It was the smell of the tree's fruit that had woken him up; it was sharp, rich and sweet and tangy all at once. All around the tree, however, was ruin. Rubble and broken walls stretched for miles; it seemed there had once been a large town here. But now, it was gone; nothing even remotely habitable remained. For a moment, Ryu wondered if there were any remains of the inhabitants, then realized that they were near a beach and remembered what Alan had told them about Gold Dogfish. If any bodies had been here, they had been dragged out to sea long ago. "Wonder where this is... hey! Anybody else here?" Exploration showed that none of the group had come with him. "Oh well... mabe they're back at Carmen. If that's nearby... who knows how far away that sent me." Fortunately, he soon saw Tock to the north, and from there was able to make it back to Carmen. As he entered, something fell out of the sky and slammed into him.

"Ryu! You're alive!" Nina hugged him. "Thank Ladon... we were all sent to various places near here. We searched, but couldn't find you..."

"I got dumped a little further away." Ryu smiled. "But I'm fine. The others are all here, then?"

"Yeah, they're in there." Nina pointed to a house, and her smile faded. "That's Alan's place... he's in there too."

"Alan..." Ryu frowned. "Yeah... Cerl seemed to know him. Shall we go have a talk with him?" Walking into the house, they found everybody else sitting around a table.

"There you are, boss." Bo smiled. "Knew you'd find your way back here. Well, now that we're all in attendance..." He shifted his gaze to Alan. "Time to talk, friend. It seems you and Cerl, the White Assassin of the Tiamat Unit, know each other."

"Cerl..." Alan's eyes grew distant. "It's been a long time since then. More than a decade..."

"So she was a childhood friend?" Deis asked. Alan nodded.

"Yes. We grew up... here. She had a bit of a rough childhood, I'll admit, but when she was young she was never violent... never cruel. She was my best friend... I never would have believed that she would end up helping the Dark Dragon Emperor like this back then."

"People change, Alan." Bo said bluntly. "Sometimes they change for the better... like Gobi..."

"Hey!" The fat Maniro objected.

"But sometime they don't." Deis continued what Bo had been saying, ignoring Gobi. "Cerl has obviously done the latter. She's the White Assassin now, Alan... I don't know how much you've heard about that, but regardless... she's not who you knew. Not even close."

"Yeah..." Alan sighed. "I guess so. You're right. Are you going back to Tock, then?"

"We have to." Ryu admitted. "We can't leave her up there with the Time Key... I'm not sure if she really intends to do what she said, but either way we have to stop her. We'll rest outside the town tonight, then head off in the morning." Leaving Alan, they made camp in the same place they had the night before. As usual, Gobi cooked. After eating, they crouched around the campfire in pairs, talking about various things. Gobi and Karn argued about comparative moralities in stealing somebody's possessions versus cheating them on the market. Ox and Mogu chatted about their families. Bo and Deis watched the others and muttered about the future. And Ryu and Nina didn't say much at all, really.

"Ryu..." Nina spoke after a while of silence. "You know Alan's not telling us the entire story... right?"

"Yeah, I know." Ryu nodded. "It was pretty obvious. But it was also obvious that he wasn't going to tell us, even if we called him on it. So I let it lie. We'll look in on him again tomorrow before we go... maybe he'll feel like telling us then."

"Maybe..." Nina agreed. "It might not even be anything important, anyways. This is just a guess here, but they were probably more than just friends."

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Ryu nodded. "But I don't think we'll be getting any breakdowns like we did with Cort. Cerl seems to remember him perfectly, and she doesn't seem like she'll be changing her mind on anything for him. We'll have to take her down like the others." Nina sighed.

"Yeah. So... where did you go, anyways? When Cerl sent us all flying away, I mean."

"Some place south of Tock... close to Scande, probably." Ryu answered. "A ruined town... completely destroyed. Looked like it had been for a long time. Huge fruit tree in the center, but that was the only thing still living there..." He stopped. Nina's face had become grim.

"Listen, Ryu... don't tell Karn about that place, okay? Just... don't." Ryu blinked in realization.

"That was... where the Fusion Clan lived?"

"Had to be." Nina nodded. "That's the area." Ryu shook his head.

"I never thought of that... fortunately, it wasn't on the main path, so when we're done with Cerl, we can avoid it on our way to Scande."

"That would probably be best." The Princess agreed. "No way to tell how he would react, and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to test it. We'll just ignore that place."

"That's the plan." Ryu nodded. "We should probably turn in soon, I guess."

In the morning, Karn went back into town to check on Alan. He soon returned, swearing.

"Boss, he's gone!"

"What!" Ryu demanded. "What do you mean, gone!"

"Gone, vanished, not there, disappeared, elsewhere!" Karn yelled. "He slipped out of town while we were sleeping!"

"Where do you think he went?" Mogu wondered. Karn shook his head bitterly.

"Only one place he could have. Tock. That idiot's going to see Cerl... he'll get himself killed!"

"No time for breakfast, then." Ryu decided. "Come on, let's go! Back to Tock, on the double!"

Wheezing like a herd of stampeding buffalo, the heroes poured up the stairs into the room at the top of Tock. They had made it through the tower in record time; fortunately, the layout of the mazes had remained the same. What they saw in front of them made them all fall silent immediately. Alan and Cerl were calmly facing each other, and the White Assassin was making no move to attack. Neither of them seemed to notice the heroes.

"Cerl... it IS you." Alan said softly. Cerl was silent. "It's been so long. Don't you remember... the days we were together?"

"Don't be a fool." Cerl snapped. "Maybe I do. So what? I'm one of the Tiamat Unit now... I have no past, and no future. You saw that made very clear... and don't try to tell me you don't remember THAT." Alan shook his head stubbornly.

"That doesn't matter. Ever since then... even after what you told me, what you did, I always dreamed of the day I would find you again..."

"Ha!" Cerl suddenly lunged forward, and Alan went spinning off the podium in a trail of blood. The White Assassin turned to the heroes, ignoring the dripping dagger in her hand. "Then you're twice the fool I thought. Don't try to get sappy on me... the Cerl of my childhood died on that day, along with everybody else in our Clan!"

"You dirty..." Nina glared at her. "That's how you treat somebody who cared that much about you?"

"Hey, I didn't tell him to come back here." Cerl shrugged. "I had to become this way in order to survive... I learned to be tough. Cold. A killer. In other words, the White Assassin. If he's too stupid to realize that, on his head be it. I'll kill anybody who gets in my way... even him."

"Funny." Karn smiled humorlessly, drawing his own daggers. "We've sort of followed a similar credo when it comes to Dark Dragons. Especially your two teammates. Care to see if we can make it three?"

"A rematch... fine, I'm game! I could use something to pass the time-no pun intended!" Laughing, Cerl jumped backward, spinning and throwing daggers at them all. They blocked with their weapons as they ran forward, Nina flying to the moaning Alan's side as the others advanced on the White Assassin.

"If that's all you do, you're in trouble, lady!" Ox warned, missing with his sledge and smashing into a pillar. Cerl snickered.

"Oh, I can do much more than that, believe me!" Her hands blurred, and then the floors were covered with small, spiked obstacles.

"Caltrops?" Karn stared. "I didn't know anybody made those anymore! Watch out, people!"

"Allow me to take care of those!" Deis raised her staff, and the ground began shaking uncontrollably. The caltrops all slid down into huge cracks that appeared in the floor before sealing again. Cerl was knocked off her feet as well, but she quickly scrambled back up, narrowly dodging pike and arrow from Gobi and Bo.

"Not bad... how about this, then?" She threw something on the floor, and it erupted in pitch-black smoke. Coughing, the heroes covered their eyes.

"Over there!" Bo fired, and there was a curse from Cerl. The others concentrated their attack in that direction, but the White Assassin eluded them again.

"Damn..." Karn growled. "This isn't working. Even if we hit her, it's only a glancing blow..."

"You have an idea?" Ryu asked, swiping with his sword and missing. Karn nodded.

"Yeah. Ox, Bo, come here! Everybody else, cover us!" The heroes formed around the three.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cerl demanded, throwing another smoke bomb and attempting to jump over, only to be knocked aside by Mogu's claws. "Grr! Whatever it is, it won't work!"

"All right..." Doof rumbled from behind the heroes. "Now I just need to get in one god hit. Ryu, Nina, keep her busy on the ground!"

"Gotcha!" Nina flew up as Ryu began changing shape, becoming the Thunder Dragon. Cerl cursed and tried to dodge back, but the Wing Clan princess remained above her, keeping her from jumping and blocking every attack with her rapier.

"I'll pluck those pretty wings down to the last feather when I... yow!" Cerl moved to one side as a mighty blast of lightning scorched the earth where she had stood. Ryu fired again, and again she dodged. "Not bad, but-HUH?" Cerl only had a momentary image of a mass even taller than Goda rushing at her... and then Doof slammed her, head down and horns first, THROUGH another stone pillar and into the far wall. She hit the ground and then slowly got up.

"Had enough?" Doof asked. Cerl glared at him, then laughed darkly.

"I had forgotten what you were, Karn... the Doof Fusion, I see. Very impressive... the second most effective. I never managed to get any of them right, though... blame it on my mixed heritage, I guess."

"You never... what?" Doof stared, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't tell them, Alan?" Cerl laughed, mockingly. "How dishonest of you. And that's supposed to be MY role. What, did you say we grew up in Carmen? And you all believed him? Ha! Come on... when I launched you out of here, at least ONE of you had to have landed near the ruins! And you never put two and two together?"

"Ruins..." Doof blinked. "Wait. The only ruins around here would be..." He froze, stunned. "No. You can't be... you're a Dark Dragon!"

"HALF Dark Dragon." Cerl corrected. "And Alan here is half human. But the other half, and our childhood, are the same as you, Karn. The poor, pathetic, extinct Fusion Clan. It's not a happy story, and I don't really feel like telling it right now. Suffice it to say, my lacking in the arts of our clan was more than made up for in my skill with other areas of magic... something I taught all my compatriots in the Tiamat Unit."

"Transforming." Ryu growled. Cerl nodded like a schoolteacher praising a child for giving a correct answer.

"Mm-hmm. Why do you think their alternate forms were so fearsome? Because they learned how to make them from the best. Look for yourselves..." Smiling cruelly, the White Assassin began growing, larger, taller. Below the waist, her body became covered with a mat of fur the same color as her hair. From that mass, four blue catlike legs hit the floor and flexed. Above the waist, however, she remained human, twice her normal size. As the final touch, her forearms darkened and hardened, bending upwards and then forward again, becoming insectlike red scythe claws. "Impressed? I can control every aspect of my transformations perfectly!"

"Geez!" Ryu yelled. "THIS is new!"

"Who cares? Blast her!" Deis responded, casting a spell. From around the four blue feet, a wave of frigid air spiraled upward, circling Cerl endlessly and freezing every place it touched. The White Assassin calmly waited for it to finish at her head, then flexed and shattered the ice effortlessly. Mogu and Gobi immediately ran up and began hacking at the legs.

"Oh my... insects!" Cerl lifted her feet, mock-daintily. "Guess I'll have to SQUASH them!" She bent over and lashed out brutally with her claws, and the two fell back, bleeding. Roaring, Ryu dived on her, raking her face with lightning. Cerl's face contorted into an ugly scowl. "Get off me, you! Stop right there!" She threw out an arm, pointing at him, and Ryu froze like a statue. Suddenly, there was a bellow like some god of war, and Doof was charging again. Cerl could do nothing to stop him; he hit her in the side at full speed, and the two of them went tumbling to the floor.

"You were the one, weren't you?" Doof demanded. "You were behind what happened to our Clan... to our people!"

"A Clan you never knew, idiot!" Cerl taunted, raking his face. "You were barely out of diapers when it happened! Believe me, they deserved what they got! And even if they didn't, what does it matter now? They're dead, and nothing can bring them back!"

"And Alan?" The Fusion demanded, ramming a horn into her left foreleg. "What about him? Did he deserve THAT too?"

"I spared his life once already!" Cerl yelled. "What do you want me to do? Welcome him back with open arms? I told him never to come near me again! He didn't listen, it's his own fault!" Doof lunged again and crippled her other foreleg.

"Don't even SAY that. One thing I've learned... anything you do, good or bad, is YOUR decision! Nobody else's!"

"Pathetic wretch!" Cerl shrieked, using both claws to throw him aside. "You know nothing! You talk to me of THAT, of making your own fate! It would be funny if you actually knew what you talk about... instead, it's disgusting!"

"Enough talk." Ryu glared. Cerl looked around and saw that, while she had been wrestling with Doof, the others had surrounded her with her back to a wall. "We don't really care about your reasons. You've done more than enough to deserve death... and we WILL kill you. You're no match for us... just like Cort and Mote. You're through, Cerl." The White Assassin's eyes narrowed.

"You forget... I have a trump card. You're stronger than I predicted, but you still have no chance against THIS!" She spun and put one claw on the Time Key before anybody could stop her. Again, the air itself split, becoming a rift in space and time... and then a window, looking on Carmen. Specifically, on two children, one female and one male. And then, to everybody's shock, the children began growing... older. They were still motionless, but their bodies changed, advancing to adulthood.

"What are you DOING?" Mogu demanded, horrified.

"I'm advancing time, of course." Cerl laughed. "Silly boy. I don't need Tock for this... this function of the Time Key is self-contained. And I'll keep it up... then eventually, poof! Everybody in town's old... and then they're gone! You can't kill me before I do that... so will you let the people be sacrificed to take me down?"

"Damn..." Gobi cursed. "She's got us by the balls, boss. We've got no choice... we have to retreat."

"Pretty smart, for a fish." Cerl sneered. "Now, all of you, get out of here before it gets too late..."

"No..." Somebody croaked. It was Alan, his wounds healed by Nina. He ran towards Cerl. "Stop... I won't let you do this to another town, Cerl! You can't... I know you won't!"

"Get away from me!" Cerl shrieked, and the window shifted. The heroes each had time for only one curse as they were drawn into it once more... but this time, two more were drawn in as well. Alan and Cerl both, the latter still holding the Time Key and trailing curses as they spiraled down, down into the darkness...


	17. Chapter 16: Out Of Time

**__**

Chapter 16: Out Of Time

This time, Ryu remained conscious as he suddenly appeared somewhere else. Nina was by his side, but none of the others were. They were standing in front of a tiny but regal fortress of marble. It was positioned between two cliffs, completely blocking the way onward.

"Where... is this place?" The Light Dragon wondered. Nina shook her head.

"I've got no idea..."

"You like it?" A third voice jeered from above. Cerl's head poked out of a window in the fortress, and she waved mockingly. "I made a mistake letting you come back to Tock... but not this time! You'll never get me in here!"

"Oh, really?" Ryu smiled. Both he and Cerl were back in their normal forms. "We'll see about that..." He walked forward, towards the door, and grabbed the handle... with no success. Staring, he tried kicking it down and hurt his foot.

"Oh, that's rich!" Cerl cackled. "But it's no good. This is my own personal Outpost... it was built for me by a friend of mine. A friend you killed. Mote, the Red Dreammaster."

"Mote's art built this place?" Nina blinked.

"You got it... and here's the best part." The White Assassin explained. "This outpost is a reflection of my own mind. So as long as my mind is closed to you, this castle is closed! Foolproof! You'll never get in!"

"We'll find some way..." Ryu vowed. "We'll be back, Cerl."

"Come back as many times as you want!" The White Assassin invited. "As a matter of fact, I challenge you on this! I dare you to try and find a way in here... to make me change my mind! If you can make me that weak, I won't deserve the Time Key. But don't think it'll be easy... and don't even THINK of relying on that fool, Alan. You've already seen how I feel about him!" Laughing again, she pulled her head in.

"She's right..." Nina shook her head. "This won't be easy. We should have finished her off when we had the chance... now we have to defeat her emotionally too. And that's pretty much impossible for any member of the Tiamat Unit."

"We'll figure something out." Ryu promised. "Come on... let's head back to Carmen. The others will probably be there already, wondering where we are." Nina nodded and took to the air.

"Where have you been?" Gobi almost screamed as Ryu and Nina walked back into Carmen. "We've been frantic over here!"

"She sent us a little farther away this time." Ryu explained. "Pretty close to Scande, actually. We'll tell you the details later. What's going on?"

"The people are still aging." Mogu explained. "Much more slowly than how she started, but if it keeps up... and that's not all. Come on!" He and Gobi led them to Alan's house. Deis, Bo and Ox were all clustered around his bed.

"Ryu!" Deis turned. "And Nina! I thought you patched up his wounds!"

"I did the best I could!" Nina defended herself. "It was a rush job... the damage was closed up, but... oh, no!"

"Oh, yes." Deis nodded grimly. "The strain of that little trip Cerl sent him on reopened them. We've done all we could here, but..."

"How could she?" Ox shook his head, disgusted. "How could she do this to a friend? Even if she claims she's not who she was back then?"

"Ha ha ha..." Everybody turned to Alan to see him laughing weakly. "Ha... this is nothing. She's done... far worse."

"And you still went up there?" Bo demanded. "You still thought..."

"What can I say?" Alan shrugged helplessly. "Cerl was right... I am a fool. But I can't help it... and I can't help but blame myself, partially... if I had done things differently, she might not have become this way..."

"Alan... what really happened?" Ryu asked quietly. "Tell us. All of it, this time." Alan looked around.

"The... Fusion Clanner. Where is he?"

"Karn?" Gobi looked towards the door. "He's outside... just mumbling to himself about controlling space and time. You want me to get him?"

"Yes..." Alan nodded. "He needs to hear this... most of all." Gobi nodded and went out. A few moments later, he returned with Karn. The young thief was unusually silent; he took a seat near Alan without a word.

"You were both born in that town, right?" Nina asked. Alan nodded.

"Yes... my mother came down from Carmen to marry my father. It was a happy marriage. Cerl, though... her father was a Dark Dragon general. Even in those days, before Zog took the throne, the Fusion Clan and the Dark Dragons never got along. Cerl and her mother were both outcasts. Cerl's mother didn't care... she was a proud woman, and refused to hide her relationship with the general. But Cerl was treated as barely more than a monster ever since she was born... she never had friends. My father and mother understood, somewhat... they were always kind to her. But they weren't her age... I was the only true friend she had. We spent our childhood together, like brother and sister. Whenever the other kids would hassle us, we went to the holiday tree in the center of town... the branches were thick enough that we could stay up there without anybody else finding us."

"The tree with the really powerful-smelling fruit?" Ryu asked. Alan nodded.

"That's the one... she always loved that smell. We grew older that way... and then, when we were fifteen, Cerl's father was killed, far away in the lands of the Builder Clan. It wasn't long after that... that the other Fusion Clanners decided they didn't want Cerl and her mother around anymore. I think Cerl scared them... you saw what she did back in Tock. She had already begun experimenting with that... we thought nobody else knew about it, but we were wrong. The townspeople mobbed... but Cerl's mother wouldn't leave. She was defiant... said she had as much a right to live there with her daughter as anybody else. Then, one of them... I don't know who... threw a rock. It hit Cerl's mother in the head... killed her. It wasn't intentional... the mob just wanted them gone, not dead... but all Cerl saw was her mother. She ran, and nobody, not even my parents, went after her. I tried to tell them to bring her back, but none of them would listen... finally, I went after her. Alone."

"I take it that didn't go well." Mogu guessed. Alan shook his head.

"No. I remember it very clearly... I caught up with her on the border of Scande. It was the last time she was really..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "She said she was going into Scande... that she would claim her father's position, by force if neccessary, using the fighting skills he had taught her whenever he had time to come see her. I told her I would come with her... but she wouldn't let me. Said Scande was no place for me. Then she told me to go north, and never return to the Fusion Clan or Scande." He hung his head. "I was stubborn, but eventually she sent me away. But I still didn't listen... I went back to the Fusion Clan. It was the only home I knew, although I never felt right there afterwards."

"I don't imagine I would, either." Bo shook his head. "Something like that... nothing's ever the same."

"It wasn't..." Alan's eyes became haunted. "And then, a year later... that day came..."

"Hey, Alan!" One of the Fusion Clan boys yelled. "You up in the tree again?" Alan ignored them. Now sixteen, he still spent most of his time in the branches of the Holiday Tree, although these days he was unaccompanied. He stayed up there, alone with his memories... memories the strange smell of the tree's fruit brought back all too clearly. At first, nobody had bothered him, or indeed, gone near him... but recently, the others his age in the Clan had tried to get him to join them.

"Get lost." He yelled back finally. Another one frowned.

"Come on, Al... you can't just stay up there and mope forever, man! She's gone... you're not going to change that by becoming a tree ape!"

"Shut up." Alan growled. "None of you have any right to even talk about her... none at all!"

"Come on, Al." The first kid defended them. "That ain't right. We never did anything to Cerl. Sure, she was kinda creepy, and maybe we didn't hang out with her... but we never said or did anything bad to her! Not like some of the other kids!"

"But you didn't say a word when all your parents ran her out of town and killed her mother, did you?" Alan said bitterly. The others all looked at each other helplessly, then shrugged.

"Well, if you don't want to come down, whatever, Al." The leader called as they turned to go. "But she's not going to come back, man. Cerl's never coming back." Alan closed his eyes and gritted his teeth until they were gone. It wasn't until the sun had completely disappeared that he went home. His father and mother were waiting for him. As soon as he arrived, they sat down to eat dinner without a word. Alan and his parents seldom spoke to each other now; he had never completely forgiven them for doing nothing to help Cerl and her mother. As they were chewing the roast, there was a commotion from outside... like all of the other Clansmen were running outside. Alan and his family abandoned their meal and joined them. The Clan was moving towards the south edge of town, and as they ran, Alan's family caught hints of conversation.

"Dark Dragons..."

"Sent five emissaries, whole legion with 'em..."

"Think we're gonna just bow down..."

"Show 'em good..." Alan closed his eyes for a moment, and then they were there. A full legion of Dark Dragon soldiers were backing five figures... each was robed and hooded, disguising their features. A tall, thin one in blue... another in white, resting light on its feet... a tiny one in red, less than two feet tall... an oppositely huge giant in black... and the apparent leader, a solid man in gold. As the Clan's Elder approached, he dropped his hood, revealing a handsome male face with pale skin and shining, long golden hair.

"Greetings, your grace..."

"Cut the crap, whoever you are." The Elder snapped. "What are you here for? As if I even need to ask?"

"Why, it's quite simple." The gold-robed man smiled. "I am Lord Jade, the second-in-command of the Dark Dragon Empire, and these four are my most trusted friends. You may know us as the Tiamat Unit."

"The Tiamat Unit..." The Elder whispered. "Scande's secret project... the elite squad of superpowered freaks."

"Now, that's an unkind word." Jade wagged a finger reprovingly. "You might put me in a bad mood, and considering the situation, that would not be a good idea. You see, your grace, we're here for one thing and one thing only. To conquer you, your people and your land... one way or another. Our Emperor plans to own the world, and you're target number one... both because of proximity, and because of the wishes of... one of us." The Elder recovered from his surprise and glared at them.

"I don't care. Our answer is the same as it's always been. No. We will not bow down to Scande, no matter how many times you threaten us. Now bring on your soldiers. We're ready for them."

"Soldiers?" Jade looked at his four robed friends. "No, no... they're here as observers only. Somebody has to be a witness to what happens here... a LIVING witness. And your Clan, I'm afraid, simply won't do. Looks like you were right, White... or would you prefer I call you by your true name while we're here?"

"No, White will do just fine..." The white-robed one dropped her hood as well. "It's not like anybody here will care." Nobody in the crowd was able to avoid staring as she let her hair fall back.

"Cerl...?" Alan whispered. But he was wrong... it wasn't Cerl. Not the Cerl who had left him, crying, on the border of Scande with a command to run from their home and never return. This Cerl's face was hard... cruel. She turned to look at them all and sneered.

"I'm back... did you miss me?"

"Well, since the hoods are off..." The man in blue commented lightly as the other three revealed themselves. He was a young man in his midtwenties, with skin and hair both as blue as his robes. He wore a ruby monocle and a cynical smirk, but his eyes were as sharp as daggers. The remaining two both had identical blood-red skin. The giant man had a long mass of black hair and a brutish, almost animal face, but the other... a child who looked barely old enough to walk, yet whose face was twisted in cruelty and scorn.

"So... are we going to kill them now, White?" The red-robed child hissed. Cerl nodded.

"Yes, Mote, we will. Old friends, meet my new friends... Alchemist Cort, Warrior Goda, and Dreammaster Mote. And myself, of course... Assassin Cerl."

"Cerl... what will you do here?" The Elder asked, face trembling. Cerl's face contorted in an ugly scowl.

"What do you think? You drove me out of here... you killed my mother! When you did that, I wasn't able to do anything... but no more. Now, I am strong. Now... I'm one of the bad guys. One of the BIG bad guys." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And in case you didn't know... what the bad guys don't like... they kill." The Tiamat Unit rushed forward, and the crowd broke and ran, screaming in terror. The Elder tried to rally them, but he was instead the first to go down as Cerl reached him. Her hands flashed, and he collapsed in a spray of blood.

"Go, my Unit! Kill them all, every one!" Jade laughed. "Let the Fusion Clan serve as an example to show the rest of the world what happens to those who defy the Dark Dragon Empire... complete and total obliteration!" Alan was dragged along by his parents as they fled to their house. The other Fusion Clanners, the faster ones at any rate, were doing the same, but there was no escape. Slowly, the sounds of combat ceased as the last of the stragglers were picked off, and then there was silence... and then, footsteps, as the Tiamat Unit approached the homes.

"Ha ha... good try, chaps, but I'm afraid that won't help you." Cort's monocle glinted out of the darkness as he held up a hand. Between his fingers, he held tiny bottles of a flaming orange potion. One by one, he flicked them outward... and as each hit a wall, it burst and then exploded in liquid flames.

"Make this easy... your deaths will be swift!" Goda roared as he took a more direct method. One blow from one of his fists would cave in an entire house, collapsing it upon those inside most of the time. A double-fisted blow would leave nothing but a crater.  
"Oh goody... my turn now!" Mote cackled, watching as some of the Fusion Clan escaped the burning or crushed buildings and tried to run. Leaping forward like a deranged squirrel, he flew into the air and stroked their heads with one finger. Every time he did this, the Fusion Clanners would stop, their faces masks of agony, and fall to the ground writhing into knots shortly before their heads exploded in red and grey gore. Jade watched them work with the same emotionless smirk that he always wore, then stepped forward.

"This is fun, but it's taking too long... let's hasten it up!" He began glowing, bulging, growing... scales, wings, teeth, claws, all a brilliant, shining gold, only visible in glimpses through the shadows cast by the blazes... he roared, and then moved, like a juggernaut as he rampaged, turning entire houses into rubble.

"Hahaha... regret what you did to me now?" Cerl laughed, horribly and coldly, and began glowing as well, but she did not become a dragon... no, she was all the more hideous for part of her remained human, even as the rest changed... four legs, blood-red claws, and the same face, larger than it should be, as she joined her allies. Behind them all, the legion of soldiers watched, their faces as horrified as the Fusion Clan. This was not a battle... this was a slaughter, a bloodbath, perpetrated by only five people. Many of them were physically ill, and there wasn't a single one who could avoid shuddering.

"The Tiamat Unit..." Alan whispered, horrified. He knew that as long as he lived, he would never forget that night... Cort calmly, emotionlessly setting houses ablaze and ignoring the screams as he moved on... Mote, sadistically crushing heads as he bounced from one to another... Goda, bringing destruction with movements of his bare knuckles... Jade, still unseen but not unheard, the roars of the dragon mixed with the screams of his victims... and Cerl at the center of it all, trampling and slicing and laughing, always laughing under the night sky lit only by the fires... and then she was upon their house, kicking it down with her hind legs. Alan and his father screamed as his mother was killed instantly, crushed beneath the falling wall. Cerl glared down at Alan's father, and then reached down with one insect claw, hooking him by his shirt.

"Pardus..." She recognized him. "I should kill you, like the others... I see your wife's already fallen. But... I owe you. You didn't do enough, but it was more than anybody else. Just this once... but don't ever let me see you again. And if any others survive... tell them the same. Run away... hide where none of us will ever find you again. Because if I ever see you, or any others from the Clan after tonight... I WILL kill you." Turning, she hurled Pardus over the burning town, towards the sea. And then she turned back to the house, and her eyes lit with surprise. "Alan...?"

"Cerl..." Alan demanded. "WHY?"

"You know why." Cerl shook her head with anger. "I tried... I tried to be normal, to be one of them. But I never had a chance... from the moment I was born, the fate of my mother and me was set. They just waited until my father died, until they knew he wouldn't seek retribution... but they made the mistake of letting me grow into something far worse, far more vengeful than he ever was. And now... they pay for all of it. And you, Alan... why did you come back here? I told you to run... to stay away."

"You..." Alan realized. "Even back then... you were planning this?"

"Of course." Cerl nodded. "Obviously. And you were too foolish to listen. Now what do I do with you... my comrades are bloodthirsty, you see. They'll kill you, and I won't be able to stop them. And I can't throw you after your father... can't have you two joining up. No... there's only one way." With a few quick movement, she finished collapsing the house, and covered Alan with the rubble carefully. "There. You'll be able to get out, but not until we're done here."

"Cerl..." Alan said, one more time. He couldn't see her, but he could hear her voice change, sad... but only for a moment.

"Alan... no. Don't, Alan. It's like I told them all... the Cerl of the Fusion Clan is gone. When we leave here, Alan, go north... live somewhere, and tell nobody who or what you are. Because what I said to your father stands for you too... if I ever see you again, I'll kill you. Stay quiet so the others don't find you. Farewell, Alan." Alan heard her feet tromping off, and shuddered. He could no longer see the atrocities outside, but he could still hear them... the screaming, the roars, the laughter. And it was a long time before they stopped... before nothing was left but silence.

"...Wow." Ox whispered. "That's... wow." Karn was still silent, but his eyes were even darker than they had been before. The tale of the Fusion Clan's fate had shaken them all, but Karn had been affected the most, even if he had no actual memories of the incident.

"And yet you still care for her." Bo said quietly. It wasn't a question. Alan bowed his head.

"Yeah. Like I said, I guess I'm just a fool. I did what she said this time... came to Carmen and tried to forget everything. Nobody here knows what I am. But when I heard her name again... I just went back instantly. Even now, I can't help but think... if I had protected her back with the Fusion Clan... or held out and gone with her to Scande... she wouldn't have ended up like this."

"I don't know..." Ryu shook his head. "She hooked up with Jade... the more I hear about the Tiamat Unit, the more I start to wonder if anything could have stopped him from assembling them. Cerl's not the only one with a screwed-up past."

"But I didn't even try." Alan insisted. "I gave up too easily, and this happened. Damn it..."

"...There may still be a chance, you know." Deis said after a moment. Everybody turned to stare at her. "Hear me out, all of you. I don't know if any of you noticed, but despite what she says, she still isn't as over Alan as she wants us to think... desperately wants us to think. She knows he's her only weakness."

"Yeah..." Gobi said slowly. "She did sort of overreact there, didn't she? Normally she was totally calm and collected, but whenever the subject came up, she went psycho. I wonder where she is now... still back at Tock? Maybe if we went again..." Ryu and Nina glanced at each other.

"About that..." The Light Dragon sighed. "When she blasted us away for the second time... me and Nina landed outside an outpost of hers. It's blocking the way to Scande, turns out... anyways, it was built by Mote. Has a really cute function; it mirrors her mind. As long as her mind's closed, the fortress is impenetrable. So..."

"So in order to finish your job, you need to open her mind to things again." Alan realized. "I'll admit, I haven't stopped thinking about her... but she'll never forgive me. Not willingly..." Karn inclined his head towards the door without Alan seeing. Nina nodded.

"We'll figure something out." She assured Alan. "Here... I'll do what I can for these wounds, and then you should get some rest. We can wait a few hours." Alan nodded and closed his eyes. After Nina was done, the heroes walked outside.

"All right." Karn spoke for the first time since Alan had started his story. "We need to concentrate on the facts here... nothing more. Cerl's absolutely ruthless. To beat her at her own game, we have to be the same."

"You have a plan?" Mogu asked. Karn nodded grimly.

"We give her no choice... a continued seige. Not physically, but emotionally. Alan said they would hang out in that holiday tree... and Ryu, you know where it is, right?" The Light Dragon nodded. "Good. We go there and each take tons of fruit. Then we pile it up outside the outpost. Also... does this outpost have a window?" Ryu nodded.

"One on the second floor. It's not a very big building."

"Perfect." Karn continued. "We park Alan in a spot so that when Cerl so much as glances out there from any angle, she'll see him. Then we wait. No defense can stay up against a force forever. If she goes downstairs to avoid having to look at him, the smell of that fruit will be twice as strong. Eventually, before the day is out, she'll crack. Just a little, for a short time, but if I understand the concept Mote built it on, that'll be enough for us to get in... and once we're in there, we make absolutely sure we finish the job this time. No matter what. We won't get another chance if we mess up again." When he was done talking, the other heroes were staring at him with mixed expressions of shock and disbelief.

"You're serious." Ox blinked. "You're actually going to do this."

"We've got no choice." Ryu told him. "Karn's right. This isn't a situation where we can afford to be saints. If we don't take Cerl out, this entire town will perish."

"But that..." Nina looked like she had found a particularly disgusting insect. "We can't do things like that... if we do, how are we any better than the Dark Dragons? Aren't we out to STOP things like this from happening?"

"Cerl put us in this position. We didn't start this." Gobi reminded her. "She has to face the consequences of playing the game this way."

"It'd be torture." Mogu said grimly. "We'd be torturing her into giving in... and there's what it would do to Alan, too. What would his reaction be? Would he even agree to it? And if he did..."

"He'd agree." Deis judged. "He wouldn't like it, but he'd know it's the only chance... and he's the kind of guy who always takes the chance, no matter how desperate. We've seen that."

"Let's take a vote." Karn decided. "I'll stay out of it, since it's my idea... you guys decide."

"I'm for it." Ryu said immediately. "It's nasty, yes, but it's our only option. We have to save these people, and we have to get to Scande."

"I'm for it too." Gobi agreed. "Life sucks sometimes, but you have to move forward. We'll probably regret this in the future, but now... we just have to do it, and that's that."

"Against." Ox sighed. "This is just... wierd. wrong. I don't want to if we can avoid it."

"For." Deis said bluntly. "I've done worse things. This is bad, but it's gotta be done."

"Against." Nina shook her head. "Sorry, Ryu, but I just can't condone this. If the vote comes in favor of it, I'll go along, but... I don't like it."

"Against." Mogu nodded. "This is the kind of thing the Dark Dragons do... how can we say we're better than them if we do this?" Everybody looked at Bo. The Forest Clanner looked at the floor.

"We do it."

"Then that's decided." Nina smiled bitterly. "May Ladon forgive us for what we are about to do."

"...And White is still up north, handling the case of Ryu the terrorist." Jade concluded his report. Emperor Zog nodded and scratched his beard.

"Has she reported in yet since she left?"

"Not yet." The Gold Lord shook his head. "That may be a good thing, though... Blue and Red both reported in shortly before their deaths, as it turned out."

"Ladon WOULD do something like that." Zog smiled. "As great as he is, our God has a definately twisted sense of humor." He frowned, remembering something. "About the Unit. I notice that two of my Generals, Zurm and Pess, turned up dead recently. Their bodies looked like they had been done in by two specific individuals. I think you know who."

"Black and Silver. I know, but those two were asking for it." Jade defended his Unit. "From what I hear, they were speaking ill of Blue and Red after their deaths. That cannot be tolerated, with all respect, my Emperor."

"Easy, old friend." Zog told him. "Relax. I'm not angry. Zurm and Pess were fairly worthless anyways... even moreso than I thought, if they were stupid enough to talk like that near your Unit. Just caution them to try to avoid killing any more of the officers, hm? If the entire General staff revolts, it'll be a very bothersome afternoon."

"I think we can avoid that." Jade agreed. He smiled bleakly. "They should be lucky White didn't do it... from the looks of it, the deaths were fairly quick. She would have made them last a lot longer."

"The White Assassin was always good at that, wasn't she?" Zog laughed. "Even from the beginning... when she walked in here that day and disemboweled Sir Crander."

"Ten years ago..." Jade nodded. "I remember that day... she came in here looking like a common tramp, but full of pride and purpose... demanding to see the Emperor, and claiming to be the daughter of General Hassan. Crander said something foul, and she ripped him open like gutting a fish."

"Ha ha, yes..." Zog chortled. "A mistake, but a brave one! And then... didn't she just stand there with her knife dripping, and ask if anybody else was going to do something stupid?"

"That was it." Jade nodded. "A good thing I was there, or she would have been swarmed by the other officers and killed. Instead, I brought her to see you, and we gave her the rank she inherited from her father." His eyes became distant. "She still has her General's cape... she requested that it be pure white, like mine. The day she recieved it, she was proud... happier than I've ever seen her."

"And then, the two of you went north one day, and you came with a Unit." Zog remembered. "The brainiac... the baby... the roadside bandit. At first, I thought you had hurt your head..."

"But then, like White, they proved themselves. And the Tiamat Unit was born." Jade sighed. "And yet, it was ten years before we were complete... and as soon as were, we began losing ourselves. Such is fate, I guess."

"As Ladon wills." Zog nodded. "Well, perhaps once we rule the world, you will find more members." The Gold Lord stared at him for a moment, then smiled tolerantly.

"Perhaps so, my Emperor. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to my Unit and see if White has called in yet."

"All right... I should take some time off for my daughter anyways." Zog agreed. "Excused, old friend." Jade bowed and left. As he walked back to his quarters, he noted with wry amusement that any officers in his path immediately shrank out of his way, faces white. In their quarters, Silver was standing at the communications station.

"Has White called in yet?" The Gold Lord asked. Silver shook her head. "Damn... it's been too long. What's going on?" Silver shrugged. "Well, I just hope it's soon. Where's Black?"

"He's in back..." Silver angled her head. "I made him eat something... now he's just sitting there like he usually does when he's not on duty. He's not going to recover, is he?"

"I don't think so, no..." Jade shook his head. "I just hope he stays together until his time... we don't want him ruining everything."

"Call!" Silver suddenly yelled. In front of her was a small crystal orb. It began to glow, and then Cerl's face was inside it. Her face was tired... exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"Report, White." Jade ordered. The White Assassin smiled wearily.

"Lord Jade... Silver. I'm sorry that I haven't called in earlier. Things have been pretty fast-paced down here... I haven't gotten much time out of action until now. And even now, I don't know how long I'll have."

"Are you still at Tock?" The Gold Lord asked. She shook her head in negation.

"No... I'm at my outpost. The one Red made for me. For now, it's secure, but..." She fell silent for a moment. "I won't lie to you, Lord Jade... Silver. I already fought them... too early. It wasn't my time yet... and they still defeated me. So I came here. I doubt I'll have another chance to report."

"They defeated you already? Even in your transformed state?" Silver asked, her voice emotionless. Cerl nodded.

"Yes... and they did it easier than I'll bet they killed Red and Blue. They're growing faster than we ever expected... as a group, they've got us beat. And if they don't trump us individually yet, they will soon. Be ready for that... even if our plans are carried out, it may not be so easy to free the Goddess Myria."

"We've been coping with problems ever since our Unit was formed." Jade reminded her. "We'll be fine, White. Just do your duty."

"I will." White saluted. "I'll see you both again... here, or in the afterlife." The crystal orb winked out, and Jade frowned.

"Something up?" Silver inquired. The Gold Lord nodded.

"Yes. Something about White's manner... worries me. And that shouldn't happen with our Unit. If my understanding of how Red built that fortress is correct... she may lose more than Red and Blue did." Silver nodded slightly.

"So what will you do?"

"I'll take Black, and we'll go up north." Jade decided. "We'll check things out... see what happens. You stay here... watch for calls, as well as tell the Emperor, if he asks where we went." Silver winced, unseen.

"Emperor Zog won't like that."

"No, but he'll understand." Jade smiled bleakly. "It's how his mind works. We'll be off, then... no point in delaying it, if Ryu the Terrorist will be there at any moment like White thinks."

When Alan was awake, the nine of them went to the village of the Fusion Clan. They went to the holiday tree, and they gathered fruit... all that they could carry. They returned to Cerl's outpost, and there, they piled the fruit high against the front of the outpost, leaving only the door. The smell was overpowering. And then, Alan stood farther back, where he was visible from the single window at any angle, and waited. Hours passed... and slowly, inch by inch, the door was forced open. Finally, it gaped wide, and the heroes walked inside. The bottom floor was empty; nothing there but rows of cannons, none of them loaded, and a staircase. The room on top had a window with no shutter, and a cot. On that cot, Cerl crouched miserably. It was almost impossible to believe that she was the same proud, deadly White Assassin they had fought. Now, she was a huddled lump of sorrow; tearstreaks ran freely from both eyes. For several moments, the only sound was an occasional hoarse sob from the White Assassin... and then she spoke.

"You... fight well. You beat me again."

"I'm... sorry." Karn said. Nobody contradicted him. "It was... all or nothing. You bet everything on this gambit. This... we never wanted to have to do."

"Yeah, but you did." Cerl flashed him an angry, sad smile. "You're our opposites, all right. Do what you have to for the right thing." Ryu started to speak angrily, but stopped himself. "You've come to kill me, then... go ahead. I won't put up a fight."

"No, Cerl..." Alan started, but she cut him off.

"Stop, Alan! Don't. Please..." She looked at him. "For everything we had... don't. This is my end, Alan... it was destined to be this way. You can't stop it... none of us can. I know what you feel, Alan... for this moment, I know. But it won't last. It's been too long, Alan... I AM the White Assassin now."

"But I don't care!" Alan cried desperately. "Even if you're the White Assassin... Cerl, I love you. I always did."

"And once... I loved you." Cerl whispered. "And if I could have one wish... it would be that I could again."

"...Cerl." Karn stepped forward. In his hand, he held a piece of the fruit. Cerl looked down at it for a moment, then glared at him.

"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?"

"You remember this, don't you?" Karn told her. "I know your Unit's motto. No past, no future. But that's only as long as you believe that... it's not law."

"You opened your mind to us." Nina agreed. "You can keep it open. Cort and Mote both came to terms with their pasts at the end... you can do the same now, can't you?"

"...I wish I could." Cerl turned away. "But I've done too much... killed too many people. The White Assassin has committed crimes that can never be forgiven... and the worst part is, even now... I don't really regret them all."

"So stop being the White Assassin." Deis told her. "A name only has meaning as long as you keep it. Forget the White Assassin... and just be Cerl again." Cerl turned back to them.

"If only it was that easy..." She held out her hand. Something glittered in it; a golden key, length long and twisting, with a flat disk at the top resembling a clock with a polished red center. "Here. The Time Key... take it. Return Carmen to normal... that sin, at least, can still be healed." Ryu reached out to take the Key.

"Cerl..." And then, seemingly in slow motion, a massive boulder larger than Cerl was smashed into her and slammed her into the far wall.

"Aah!"

"CERL, YOU TRAITOR!" A furious voice bellowed. More pieces of the wall were thrown at her. In their place, stood a tall man, taller than Ox. He was red-skinned, bald, and huge with muscles, wearing armor that must have weighed as much as he did.

"Goda... the Black Warrior!" Ox recognized. Goda turned to them, nostrils flaring.

"You... you're the ones who killed Mote! I'll rip you into a million pieces!"

"Black, no!" Cerl struggled upright, amazingly still conscious. "This is my task... do not interfere!"

"You think I'm stupid, White?" Goda demanded angrily. "I saw it all! You betrayed the Empire... betrayed us! You give the Time Key freely, to the ones that killed Blue and Mote! How dare you try to tell me to leave! I'll kill you... kill them all!"

"I don't think so, big guy!" Ryu drew his sword.

"No! You can't!" Cerl yelled. "He's going berserk... even if you hit him with a fatal wound, he'll keep coming! He literally won't stop until you're dead, no matter what you do!"

"That's right, White..." Goda growled. "You're all dead... DEAD!"

"We gotta try, right?" Ox yelled. Cerl shook her head.

"No. It's not his time... it's mine. I never thought it would be at his hand, but if fate turns that way, so be it!" She drew her daggers. "Get out of here! Go! I'll hold him off!"  
"No way!" Nina yelled. "We don't-"

"DO IT!" Cerl screamed, running at Goda. "If you feel guilt for what you did to me... then listen to me now! Do what I say! Run!" Ryu bit his lip.

"Damn... do what the lady says!"

"Ryu!" Mogu stared at him. "We're just gonna leave her here?"

"She's made her own call! We've got no right to change it... and she's trying to save our lives! She knows what this guy can do... if she says we can't beat him, we can't! MOVE, all of you!" The heroes scrambled for the stairs... but Alan did not.

"No... no, Cerl. You won't leave me again!" He ran forward before anybody could stop him. Cerl glanced at him and lost her concentration.

"Alan, run!"

"AHA!" Goda bellowed in victory, slamming her to the ground. He raised a fist to smash her head in, but Alan jumped across her.

"Don't you touch her-UGH!" Goda changed his attack and swatted Alan off like a fly. He flew into a wall, head first, and slumped down, leaving a trail of blood. Cerl stared at him, then at Goda, her face a mask of unthinking wrath.

"Black, you...!" She jumped forward and attacked Goda furiously, now on the offensive.

"Alan! Cerl!" Nina hesitated for a second.

"NINA!" Ryu yelled, and the Princess followed him, leaving the dreadful, insane battle behind them. As they ran down to the bottom floor, a flash of grey caught Ryu's gaze. It was the cloaked, new member of the Tiamat Unit again, listening to the fight upstairs.

"You..." Nina gasped. "What are you...? Aren't you going to do something about... this?" The Silver Whatever shook its head, silent as always. Ryu growled and started to draw his blade, but then remembered and ran, Nina close behind him. As soon as they were outside, the outpost began shimmering... and then, it was gone, as if it had never existed. Nothing remained... except the Time Key, falling from the space where the second floor had been, to clink on the ground. Alan, Cerl, Goda and the Silver Whatever were gone without a trace.

"The outpost is a reflection of Cerl's mind..." Ryu remembered. "If it's gone, then..."

"Cerl..." Karn whispered. "Why? Why did our Clan hate you? Why did you become so twisted in revenge?"

"Damn it..." Bo drove a fist into a rock. "It was all preparing for this war... a war that drives people insane, and makes innocents into monsters..."

"...Cerl's last wish." Deis reminded them. "She wanted us to return Carmen to normal. We need to honor that before it's too late."

"Yes..." Nina nodded slowly. "We can't mourn yet... we have to go. Back to Tock." One by one, the heroes turned and left, leaving only a blank place with nothing there behind them. They returned to Tock, and made it through all the mazes to the top floor. Where Cerl had originally confronted them, there was a stone slab of the type used to operate Goddess Keys.

"Let me do it..." Karn started, but Nina shook her head.

"No... let me. This might be tricky... and if anything goes wrong, I can fly away from a problem. You can't." Karn reluctantly nodded. Taking the Time Key, Nina walked to the slab and placed it in. She froze for a moment, as if speaking with some silent, invisible voice, then nodded. A black window appeared, showing Carmen. Inside it, the people stopped aging... then reversed, instantly. And then... they started moving. Nina smiled.

"I did it, Cerl... Carmen is back to normal." She turned and started to pull out the Key. Ryu frowned; something seemed wrong. Then he realized it instantly with horror. Nina hadn't closed the rift in space and time.

"Nina! DON'T!" But it was too late. Nina pulled the Time Key out, and the rift shook. She turned in horror and tried to fly away, but the rift pulled, inexorably. With a trailing scream, the Wing Clan princess vanished.

"NOOOO!" Ryu screamed, diving forward after her... but he was too late. The rift vanished. Nina was gone.

Ryu had no memory of the return to Carmen. Vaguely, he would realize a blur of motion, and the dim sensation of being carried, but nothing else. The next time he was actually thinking coherently, he was at an inn in the town, lying in bed. None of the others had entered his room since they had brought him there.

"Nina..." The Light Dragon whispered. "Damn it... why? Why did I let you use the Time Key? Why couldn't I save you in time? Why... did you do this, Ladon?" He punched the wall. Something in the back of his mind told him this wasn't the way he should be acting, that all of them had known the risks ever since joining up, that he had to be the leader like always... but he was unable to actually do so. He simply couldn't imagine finishing the journey without the cheery Wing Clan Princess that had joined him before any of the others. He tried to remember the happy times, but they all faded away to her falling into the rift in space and time, helpless. Groaning, Ryu looked out a window. "Maybe this'll help... doubt it... huh?" Outside, walking down a path through town, he saw a familiar figure; the mysterious cloaked man they had met in the GrimFowl Woods and Tunlan. This time, his clothes were a brilliant, flaming orange. He stopped near the outskirts and dropped something near a water trough, then turned to look at Ryu, silently. Ryu frowned... then remembered. "TUNLAN!"

"Boss?" Bo inquired hesitantly as Ryu exploded out of his room at the Inn. "Are you... okay?"

"Nina." Ryu said. "She got sent somewhere... anywhere in space and time, right? Where, we don't know."

"Well, yeah." Mogu agreed. "We've all been depressed as hell about it-"

"Tunlan." Ryu cut him off. "Mogu, you weren't there, but... everybody else, remember that Wing Clan girl? The one who was a dead ringer for Nina?"

"Yeah, except she was a year older, looked like." Deis nodded. "Other than that, she could have been her... twin..." Slowly, the sorceress' mouth hung open. "You don't think..."

"Only one way to find out." Ryu clapped his hands together, in action once more. "The cloaked guy said there was a genius doctor in Spring who could cure amnesia. It's got to be that guy, Old Ernie. Ni... that girl has amnesia."

"So we have him make the cure, and find out." Gobi shook his head with simultaneous admiration and befuddlement. "Boss, as crazy plans go, this takes the cake... but it's worth a shot."

"So what are we waiting for?" Karn grinned for the first time in days. "Let's hit the road! Back to Spring!"

"No need." Deis rubbed her hands. "That oaf, Goda, used a spell I knew once to arrive... and now I remember it. I can teleport us back there right now. Come on, everybody, stand close." The group immediately clustered around her. "All right, then..." She waved her staff, and they were surrounded by white smoke. When it cleared, they were standing outside Old Ernie's clinic, and being stared at by several residents.

"Good job, Deis." Ryu congratulated her, knocking on Old Ernie's door. The grumpy phsysician opened it and blinked at them.

"Who...? Oh, it's you guys! The ones who fixed the weather! What can I do for you?"

"We need a cure for amnesia." Ryu explained. "The case has probably been going on for at least a year, to our knowledge..."

"Amnesia, huh?" Old Ernie winked. "No sweat, young 'un! I can have a foolproof tonic whipped up. Only problem is, the ingredients are a bit... exotic. It'll take a while to have them arrive." Ryu glanced at Deis, who nodded.

"Just tell us what you need." The Light Dragon responded. "We can get them for you fast." Old Ernie thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"You probably can, at that. All right. There are four ingredients I don't have. The first is the tips of the antlers from a white stag."

"A white stag?" Bo whistled. "Wow. Those are hard to bag."

"The second..." Ernie continued. "A root from the giant violet tuber, a plant that grows in Gramor. It has to be completely intact."

"I've been digging those up ever since I was in diapers." Mogu smiled, a rare occurance. "Might be a bit tricky to get one completely intact, but I'll manage."

"Third is a coconut, from the palm trees in the center of the world..."

"That island." Gobi snapped his fingers. "The one I took you guys to after the ship incident. It had coconuts."

"And finally, a pufferfish." Old Ernie concluded. "Those are only found reliably in one place. The Red River, near Scande."

"All right." Ryu nodded businesslike. "Let's split up. Deis, you're on transport... take everybody where they need to go. Bo, find one of those white stags and take it down. Mogu and Karn, you're on the root; Ox and Gobi, get the coconut. And I'll catch a pufferfish." They all nodded.

"I'll take you first... I'll drop you off as close to Scande as I can." Deis decided. "I have to know what the place I'm going looks like, so this spell isn't perfect. But it'll do. Come on." The two of them vanished in smoke, and appeared north of Cerl's outpost... or where it had been.

"Cerl..." Ryu remembered. "And Alan. A tragedy... but was it avoidable? Could we have done something to..."

"Hee hee!" A child's voice giggled. Both Ryu and Deis froze. From the rubble, a small girl ran out... a girl with long blonde hair bound back in a ponytail. She looked no more than five. Behind her ran another child, a boy the same age, with skin slightly darker than normal. And then, as they watched, he spoke.

"Hey, Cerl! Wait up!"  
"Come on, Alan!" The little girl teased. "You'll have to run faster than that, if you want me to marry you when we grow up!" She turned and saw Ryu and Deis staring, jaws dropped. Both children screeched to a halt.

"You... how...?" Ryu stammered. Alan looked at him.

"You seem familiar, mister... miss. Do we know you?"

"Yeah..." Deis shook her head. "Yeah, you could say that. You're... are you Alan?"

"You got it!" The boy said proudly. "I'm half Fusion Clan! This is Cerl, and so's she!"

"Quiet, dummy!" Cerl kicked his shin. "We agreed not to tell anybody who we were, remember?"

"Oh, yeah..." Alan nodded, confused. "But... why was that again? I forget..." Cerl rolled her eyes.

"Boys! Never mind. Come on, I'll be it for a while."  
"Yah! Can't catch me!" Whooping, Alan ran off. Cerl started to follow him, then turned back... and for a moment, her eyes were those of somebody much older.

"You're... nice people. But I don't think we should stick around here. Somebody might find us. I just... want to say thank you. For believing in me... when even I had given up hope for myself."

"Was it... the Time Key?" Deis wondered. "Had to be... but I didn't know it could do THAT..." Cerl shrugged.

"Well, I dunno either. I'm too little. See you!" Laughing, she ran off after Alan. Ryu and Deis stared after them.

"Well, I'll be." Ryu chuckled slowly. "Ladon, you old deck-stacker... miracles do happen..." He frowned. Somebody else was emerging from the rubble. It was the Silver Whatever... and it was carrying the armor and cape that had once belonged to the White Assassin, now empty. Deis tightened her hold on her staff.

"What are you here for? Did you see...? You had to. But you didn't try to attack them... does that mean you don't mind how things turned out?" The Silver Whatever said nothing.

"Who ARE you?" Ryu demanded. "You join the Tiamat Unit, the first guy to do so in ten years... and you appear whenever one of your buddies dies, to take them off. You're always silent, and you never let us see what you really look like... what's your deal, buddy?" The Silver Whatever watched him silently... and then it reached out, and with one gloved finger, traced a word in the air with streams of light.

SOON.

"Soon?" Deis wondered. There was a flash of light, and the Silver Whatever was gone. Ryu slowly shook his head.

"Something about that guy... just really gets under my skin." Deis shrugged.

"Beats me what it is. Anyways, looks like nothing else is happening here. If memory serves, following this valley through the mountains will take you to Scande." Ryu nodded.

"Right... see you back here this time tomorrow. Go take care of the others." Deis nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke.

It took Ryu most of the day to even approach Scande. Finally, as the sun was setting, he emerged out of the valley path, and caught his first sight of his destination, ever since the beginning of his quest. He was standing at the entrance to a vast, circular plain. A half-circle of mountains arced north, and where those ended, the vast ocean completed the loop. But the plains were not healthy... they were disgusting swampland. The worst part was the water; it was a toxic, poisonous red.

"Red river?" Ryu coughed. "This is a red marsh, for cryin' out loud..." And then he fell silent. At the center of the swamp, he saw it. A huge collection of buildings, bigger than any city in the world. Black and blue and gold, the structures were mighty and strong, towering over another ring of mountains that surrounded it. And at the core of it all, a vast palace-tower loomed over the plains. Scande, the heart of the Dark Dragon Empire, was finally within view.

"Wait a few days more, Zog..." Ryu whispered. "Just a few days more, and we'll all come for you. But right now... there is something more important for me to do." Finding a place where the red waters were in motion, fairly fast and deep, Ryu sat on the edge of a stone bridge and began fishing.

Unfortunately, the pufferfish of the red marsh were not easily fooled. Several hours passed with no success. Ryu was so aggravated, he didn't even notice the other angler at first. Looking to his side, bored, he jumped in sudden realization, then relaxed upon recognizing his companion.

"Chickens biting much today, young 'un?" Uncle Specs asked, tipping his hat... straight into the red water. Ryu watched it sink, bubbling.

"Ah... no. No chickens."

"Figures." Uncle Specs snorted. "I knew I shoulda gone to Gramor. Now I'll never catch anything."

"What are you using for bait?" Ryu asked politely. The old maniac winked conspiratorilly.

"Old family secret... solid gold nuggets. The fish practically leap out of the water to get 'em... chickens, I mean. Especially the big ones wearing clothes. Gotta throw those ones back, of course, but it's good for learning new vocabulary."

"Vocabulary?" Ryu raised an eyebrow. Uncle Specs calmly demonstrated at some length. "...Oh. THAT kind of vocabulary."

"Is there any other kind?" The ancient transient cackled, then turned to his line. "Whoo! Think I've got a bite!" Ryu felt a tug on his line.

"Me... too!" They both pulled their hooks in, and Ryu was rewarded with a spherical green fish, covered with sharp spines. Avoiding touching it, he carefully dangled it into a basket, then glanced at Uncle Specs.

"Tarnation." The old hobo grumbled. "Just an invoice. Figures. Here, you can have it." He tossed his catch to Ryu; it was a blank slab of some strange stone.

"Uh... thanks?"

"Hold on to it, sonny." Uncle Specs grinned, suddenly serious. "Never know when it'll come in handy." Then he blinked, and he was the old hobo again. "Ah well, can't catch a sea serpent every time. Well, you can but it's not good for your health."

"I'll bet." Ryu shook his head. "Well, thanks, Uncle Specs. I'll see you around."

"Don't be a stranger!" The ancient nutjob waved as Ryu walked north. "Eyes of Ganon are everywhere!" When Ryu returned to the outpost around noon the next day, Deis was waiting for him, twitching her tail impatiently.

"You're late." She informed him. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago! Come on, everybody else is already back with their stuff. You get the fish?"

"Grade-A." Ryu assured her as they teleported to Spring. Old Ernie was already working on the tonic, dipping the root into a bubbling mixture.

"Ah, there you are." He greeted them. "Do you have the pufferfish?" Ryu placed the bloated fish on a counter. Nodding, Ernie took a knife and began expertly slicing and dicing it.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Ox asked, worried. "I don't like the looks of those spines..."

"Nonsense." Old Ernie assured him, pulling out a thin portion from the center of the fish, with no spines. "Of course I know what I'm doing." Mincing that portion, he added it to the brew and stirred it. "All right... there." Pouring the brew into a bottle, he gave it to Ryu. "Wait for this to cool, then have the patient drink it. Recovery, if not immediate, will occur within a minute."

"Thank you, sir." Ryu said gratefully. "You have no idea how much we needed this."

"Shucks, son, after how you fixed this place up, it's nothing. Now git, I need to fix up that fool Barry's broken leg." The doctor grumbled good-naturedly.

"One more teleport." Deis smiled, taking them all to Tunlan. "Let's see if you're right, boss!" It was almost night in Tunlan; the last traces of sunlight were vanishing. Asking around, Karn was soon able to locate the house where the "winged girl" was staying with the two old women that had been with her in the bar. Knocking on the door brought one of them.

"Yes? Do I... wait. Were you the fellows in the bar with the pretty young girl who looked so much like ours?"

"That was us." Ox confirmed, Karn translating. The other old lady appeared behind her.

"But she's not here... no, there's a young mole. Did something happen to her?" Everybody exchanged a glance. Ryu tried to speak, but was unable to. Bo took over.

"Well... yes. There was an incident with the Time Key..." The first old lady bliked in realization.

"Time Key? Then... do you think our girl is...?"

"It looks that way." Gobi nodded. "You've seen for yourselves how alike they look. Nina... our friend... was lost in time, and this is our only lead. We have a tonic that will cure amnesia."

"You do? All right, then." The second old lady nodded decisively. "If she is your friend, it would be best to go with her... and even if not, having her amnesia cured is a good thing. Come, she's inside." The Wing Clan girl was in the back, sitting on a couch. She turned and smiled as they entered, but didn't speak. The first old lady took the tonic from Ryu and gave it to her.

"Drink this, dear... it'll help you." Obediently, the Wing Clan girl drained the bottle, then sat there, smiling. Now that he was looking at her more closely, Ryu realized she was wearing a sky blue leotard just like Nina's, although she had a headband of the same color.

"Was she... was she wearing clothing like this when she came here?" Karn translated, and the second old lady nodded.

"Well, yes... but it was pink. We had a blue one made for her... she seemed to like the color better." Ryu's breath caught as he looked back at the girl, and she smiled at him... and then the smile disappeared.

"Wha... Ryu?" She blinked in surprise. "You guys! You're here! Do you know how long it's been?" She frowned. "Why are you all staring at me?"

"Nina...?" The thief asked hesitantly. "Do you... know who I am?"

"Of course I do, Karn." Nina laughed. "Don't be silly... it'd take a lot longer than this to forget you all!" Ryu's face trembled... and then he ran forward, sweeping Nina into his arms. Before she could protest, he bent forward, and kissed her without a single thought as to who was watching or what they would think. They held it for several seconds, and then the rest of the group started to whoop.

"Well, it's about TIME." Deis commented before howling along with them.

"Nina..." Ryu smiled. "Would you believe... for a moment there, I thought I'd never see you again?"

"...You dolt." Nina smiled back. "You should know better than that. I'm fine... better than fine. It's been a year, you know... I'm older now. And that means more than you think... unless you can remember the secret of our Clan." Ryu's eyes widened a bit.

"The Great Bird?"

"You got it." Nina removed herself from his arms. "You and Gobi aren't the only ones with spiffy transformations any more, boss. I'll show you all soon... it's a whole new world, believe me."

"Good." Bo nodded. "We'll need all the firepower we can get soon." Nina's face darkened.

"I had forgotten... yeah. Scande... well, in that case, I've got more good news. The Third Dragon Shrine. I know where it is. Saw it while flying around and testing my new powers." Ryu grinned.

"You're kidding. That has GOT to be the ultimate stroke of good luck... Ladon's pulling strings again."

"Again?" Mogu inquired. Deis nodded.

"Yeah... I forgot, we never told you. We will once we're back in Carmen. Nina, you ready to go?"

"In a moment." The Wing Clan Princess turned to her benefactors. "Thank you... both of you, for taking care of me while I was here. I have to go now... but know that I will never forget you. If ever you need anything..."

"We know." The old ladies hugged her. "Take care, child... Nina. We are happy for you." Nina brushed a tear off of her cheek as the group left.

"Now we can go. So, what's this you saw about Ladon pulling strings?"

"Well..." Ryu began. "It's about Cerl and Alan..."


	18. Chapter 17: Long Live The Emperor

**__**

Chapter 17: Long Live The Emperor

"Come on... I know it was somewhere around here..." Ryu growled, searching through the grass on his hands and knees. "I saw him drop SOMETHING intentionally..."

"Are you sure it was this water trough?" Mogu asked. "I've never seen this guy myself, but if what you told me about him is right, his clothes alone could distract you."

"Maybe one of the pigs ate it." Ox suggested. "They do come down here to drink, you know. And we have no idea how big this thing is."

"Ox, we don't have any idea WHAT this thing is." Bo reminded him. "But our fearless leader here's been winning big on his hunches recently, so if he says this thing that cloaked wierdo dropped is probably important... we look."

"Got it!" Nina crowed, raising something. It was a small metal card; the most obvious feature was a drawing of Ryu's face on it with blonde hair. Next to the portrait were words identifying him as a "Sir Ray," a Knight of the Dark Dragon Empire. Nobody seemed able to make any sense of it.

"What is THIS crap?" Karn finally demanded. Deis smiled.

"It's some kind of pass, of course. An ID. Identification. Our friend has supplied us with a method of getting into Scande without anybody knowing it's us."

"Well, that was mighty nice of him." Ox chuckled. "Of course, we'll actually need the armor for you, boss... and for the rest of us, although finding it in my size may prove difficult."

"Don't worry. I've already got that figured out." Ryu assured him. "There are plenty of isolated companies roaming around the Lands of the West. We'll find one with a guy your size and pick it off. First, though... Nina, why don't you show us what you can do now?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Nina grinned. Standing well away from the others, she concentrated, and the air shimmered around her... and then, where she had stood was a beautiful bird the size of a house. Most of its feathers were a pure white, but patterns of vibrant red and blue lined her wings and tail. However, red feathers also slanted her eyes, and the beak and talons were those of a raptor; despite its beauty, only a fool would take the Great Bird for a helpless target.

"Well, now." Bo murmured appreciatively, and the others made similar noises of approval. "That almost makes me forget I hate heights. Almost."

"You too?" Mogu laughed a bit nervously. "I can't stand them myself... don't know what I'm going to do here."

"Tell you what." Bo advised. "What we do, is we grab hold very tight, and then we close our eyes for the entire trip. So, we heading to that Dragon Shrine?"

"That's right." Ryu nodded. "When I was flying with General Cornus back in Winlan, we made the trip from there to Karma in less than ten minutes. If Nina can match that-although I think she'll be faster-we can make that island by tonight, despite that it's almost on the other side of the world."

"Yeah..." Deis nodded. "I could teleport us closer, but hell, we deserve to take the scenic route. Let's try it out." Acting on prior instruction from Nina, they climbed onto her back, choosing spots well clear of her wings and tail. With a musical call, the Great Bird took off. Almost instantly, they were miles above the ground, soaring on the thermals. Below them, the land was like a tiny model; in the distance, they could already see Spring.

"Okay, this is awesome." Ryu commented. "I should have done this with my adult dragon forms. I don't know if I could have gone this far up, but it still would have been awesome. This is great. Man."

"Hey, maybe we should try a dive!" Karn suggested enthusiastically. "Man, I'll bet that would be insane!" Bo groaned, eyes clamped tightly shut.

"Insane is right. No. No dives. Just fly." Nina did so; within an hour, they were east of Spring. Two, and they neared Gust. As the sun was setting, they dropped down on a forested island between Gust and Gramor, seperated by an insanely swift river.

"Hey, I remember this place." Gobi snapped his fingers. "We should have known this was what that thing talked about the moment we saw it. Damn, what's wrong with us."

"Never mind, we're here already." Mogu fell to the ground. "Land... how I missed you so."

"Quit the bad acting, that's Karn's job." Deis rolled her eyes as Nina returned to her normal form, smiling perkily.

"So, what'd you guys think?" A chorus of affirmative responses with a few mumbles from Bo and Mogu answered her.

"It was great." Ryu grinned. "Come on, let's check this place out." The Third Dragon Shrine, while being similar in basics to the other two, was quite different. Surrounded by what had once been a thick, tall marble wall and a moat that remained sparkling blue despite its stagnation, the third Dragon Shrine was three times as large as the former two, with multiple towers. Long ago, eight decorative pillars had surrounded it at even intervals, although now only four were left. They, the wall and the shrine itself were all made of the same aged marble... and above the entrance, Ladon's face smiled down upon them.

"Impressive." Karn whistled. "Wish I could have seen it when it was at its full grandeur..."

"Don't we all, young man..." A voice from inside chuckled. "Don't we all." Like the previous two High Priests, he was an old man wearing snow-white robes and an emerald pendant. He smiled underneath a small walrus mustache as he saw them. "Ryu... you're Ryu, aren't you?"

"And you're Gaspar, High Priest of Ladon... my grandfather's brother." Ryu realized. Gaspar nodded, chuckling as he approached.

"I knew you would come soon... although Melchior, Belthasar and Ladon didn't tell me how much you resembled Theo when he was young. Neither did Sara, although she wouldn't know, back then..." Ryu looked down.

"About Sara... there's something I should tell you, since you're related to her too..." Gaspar nodded sadly.

"I already know... Ladon has told me. I know... more than you do."

"You do!" Ryu exclaimed, grabbing the High Priest by the shoulders. "Is she still alive? What's happened to her? Tell me!"

"I'm sorry, Ryu... but you know I can't do that." Gaspar admitted. "You'll have to wait until you enter Scande to find out yourself... that won't be long now, if you're here. Are you prepared?"

"I am... we are." Ryu nodded grimly. "This is the last thing... once I complete the Pilgrimage here, we assault Scande. It's time to put an end to the Dark Dragon Empire's mad dreams, once and for all. Each and every one of us is totally commited to seeing this come to pass. I am committed to this. Take me to the trial, great-uncle. I'm ready for it here and now."

"As you wish." Gaspar led him inside as the others starting explaining things to Mogu. The interior of the Dragon Shrine was different from the others as well; after the entrance hall, it was only one large room. A Spring of Life was in one corner, and some stairs to a second floor in another... and at the back, on the familiar raised level, was the spirit of Ladon.

"Ryu." Ladon greeted him. "So you have come here, to the third stage of the Pilgrimage, to unlock your true dragon form."

"It'll probably be neccessary." Ryu nodded. "I don't get exhausted after reverting from adult dragon form any more... well, I was after Mote, but that was from doing a double-header of nasty fortresses. And I was fine after Cerl. So I'm ready for the next level."

"That you are..." Ladon nodded in approval. "Very few have made it this far, and fewer still conquered this step." Ryu blinked.

"Huh? But I've seen plenty of Dark Dragon grunts transform..."

"Most of them are only using a second-stage form." Gaspar explained. "Differences between the Light and Dark Dragons... where you recieved the Gold Dragon, they learn a Black Dragon. Most of them are content with that, doubtless not wishing to risk their lives on a third battle. Only a few attempt this step and pass, becoming priests."

"I had forgotten that you get that title from passing this step..." Ryu scratched the back of his head. "Now that I think about it... the priests in all the Temples of the west would be Dark Dragons, wouldn't they?"

"They are, yes." Ladon agreed. Ryu chuckled darkly.

"Heh... just as well I didn't know it at the start. Back when I first came to Gust, I still hated Dark Dragons unquestioningly. Now... well, I shouldn't really say anything that might turn out to be a lie when I actually enter Scande. Shall we get on with the trial, then?"

"We shall." Gaspar raised a hand. "Come, Avian!" The back of the temple emitted a strange, thick mist. From this, a huge form stalked forward, eyes glowing. It was a huge land bird, reminiscent of the GrimFowl, its feathers various shades of blue. Seeing Nina in her Great Bird form for the first time recently only made the monster seem more horrifying by comparison; this Avian was a bird of only one purpose. Screeching, it stood still and lunged its head alone forward. The neck shot out, extending grotesquely, and the beak dug into Ryu's shoulder. Yelling, he hacked at it brutally with his sword, and the bird grudgingly retracted its head. It tried again for his other shoulder, with a similar effect. Stopping, Avian pondered the situation, turning its head on one side in a gross parody of logical thought. Deciding, it bent forward again, but did not extend its neck; instead, its beak opened, lower jaw stretching like the neck, and a huge fireball flew out. Ryu, caught by surprise, took it in his arm which immediately caught fire.

"Ah! Oh, that still hurts!" Yelling, he beat it our against the floor. Avian seemed to smirk as it fired again. Ryu barely managed to avoid this one as he pulled out another weapon, growling. His boomerang. "You're not the only one with a long-range attack, pal!" He threw it, and the wooden projectile smacked Avian right in the side of the head before returning. Furious, the demon bird increased its rate of fire, but Ryu continued the boomerang assault as well. Immediately following a fireball, Avian switched tactics back, neck extending once more as his beak snapped for Ryu's head... and met nothing. It had time for one brief flicker of surprise before the Light Dragon's sword cut through its extended neck, severing the head. With one last caw of disbelief, the head fell silent, and the body pitched forward, lifeless. Wiping his sword on its feathers, Ryu turned to his observers, smiling.

"Does that satisfy the requirements?"

"More or less." Gaspar nodded. "You pass, Ryu. Your Pilgrimage is complete... the true Light Dragon form is now yours." Ladon nodded as well.

"So it was written... let it be so." As he spoke, Ryu began changing... growing. Already, he was larger than even the adult dragon forms. And then the other changes began... scales, tougher than armor, rippling down and overlapping his entire body, the color of the sun. Thick, powerful arms and legs, partially humanlike but so much stronger, with fingers ending in wicked claws. An incredibly long, thrashing tail with a line of deadly spines straight down the center atop it. Two huge batlike wings, spanning fifteen feet. An elongated, curved neck that bent forward. And the head... a snarling, fang-filled maw under glowing green eyes, with spined ridges extending back like a dinosaur. At least twelve feet tall, the Light Dragon roared towards the ceiling, and from his throat came a swarm, clumps of flying, liquid red energy.

"It's a good thing we had that ceiling made extra-strong." Gaspar commented. Ryu lowered his head and grinned at them... he tried to, at least.

"Sorry about that... you know how it goes."

"We do indeed." Ladon smiled. "Gaspar, go and tell the others they may come in now." Gaspar stared at him.

"Milord...?"

"They deserve to see their leader's new form now." Ladon explained. "And he won't exactly fit through the door without reverting. Those are the children of destiny outside... for this, they may enter here." Gaspar nodded and left, soon returning with the others. Upon seeing Ryu, none of them spoke for a few moments; they simply stared, slackjawed.

"...WHOA." Gobi assessed. "Now THAT is what I call a dragon. They should make statues of you like that, boss... if I had one outside my shop, everybody'd be so scared, I'd rip 'em off a new one."

"Trust you to think of that..." Karn shook his head. "But he's right about the first part... you could probably take on Scande all by yourself now."

"I wouldn't go THAT far." Deis smirked. "But this is good... this is very good. I've seen it all before more times than I can count, and I'm still impressed. Good show, boss."

"...Wow." Mogu shook his head in amazement. "I'm just glad you're on our side, is all I'm saying."

"Amen to THAT." Ox agreed emphatically. "If somebody told me I'd have to wrestle this, I think I'd turn in my hammer."

"I'll give you this much, boss." Bo grinned. "When you decide you're going to do something big... you do it WAY big. This is just what we need."

"Well, so much for my position of most awesome recent transformation." Nina sighed, then smiled. "But this deserves it. Now we're definately going to win. I don't think you'd have any trouble flying as high as me in THIS form."

"Yeah..." Ryu scratched his head with a claw that would have impaled any of the others. "So what do I call this thing? Just Light Dragon?"

"Traditionally, it's your name plus 'dragon,' shortened." Gaspar explained. "Ryu Dragon... how does Rudra sound?"

"Perfect." Ryu approved. "You okay with that, your divinityship?"

"Yes, and I thought we agreed you were going to stop calling me that." Ladon joked, then turned serious. "Ryu... soon after this, you will go to Scande, right?"

"That's right." Ryu nodded, all trace of mirth gone from him as well. "It's time to finish this."

"Endgame has already begun, my friend." Ladon informed him. "It began the moment you departed with the intent to come here. Scande, and your remaing foes, await you. Be prepared... and realize that events may not unfold as you expect. But whatever happens, keep moving forward. I'm counting on you... all of you." He faded and was gone, a statue in his place. Ryu sighed.

"Guess I'd better revert..." He transformed back to his normal form and immediately fell over. "Argh... that's the worst... kick yet."

"You okay?" Nina asked, concerned. Ryu nodded, slowly getting to his feet.

"Yeah... but I'll have to be careful using this thing. Well, that's the Pilgrimage completed..."

"Yes, it is." Gaspar nodded, moving forward. In his hands, he had somehow acquired another set of white robes, as well as an emerald pendant. "Ryu... no, PRIEST Ryu... these are yours. Use them well." Ryu gravely accepted them.

"I must regret that I cannot wear them... not now. But perhaps someday..." He shrugged. "Farewell, great-uncle. We must go now." Gaspar clasped his shoulder.

"Ladon himself goes with you, grandnephew... as do we all. May we meet again under more pleasant circumstances."

"Red alert! Red alert!" Soldiers yelled as they ran through the halls of Scande at top speed. Hundreds of them rushed here and there, not doing much but yelling to the eye of the casual observer. To the eye of the Gold Lord, however, it was obvious that they were preparing for an imminet attack. They did not even fearfully move out of his way as he walked down the halls, like they usually did. Even the Knights, Generals and Captains were moving about with unseemly haste. Nearly tripping over a screaming magician, Jade reached the throne room and entered without preamble. Zog was, as usual, sitting on his throne, alone in the room. Jade bowed perfunctorily, and Zog nodded; neither of them was in the mood for formalities at the moment.

"My Emperor, I bear grave news. The White Assassin has fallen as well."

"So I have heard." Zog remarked drily. "I was surprised that the common soldiery knew of this before I did; normally your Unit is not known for gossiping with them." Jade winced ruefully.

"The Black Warrior let it slip... he has been distracted, to say the least, with the death of his brother, as well as Blue and White." Zog frowned in concern.

"Will he still be able to fight?"

"Oh, yes." Jade assured him. "Actually, I think that's one of the only things that keeps him going... the possibility of his fist meeting Ryu the Terrorist's skull at high velocity."

"Don't we all wish..." Zog smiled darkly, then let it drop. "With White dead as well, Ryu the Terrorist now has a straight shot at Scande. He will undoubtably be attacking here shortly."

"No doubt about it." Jade agreed. "Doubtless he will try to make for this room, and you, my emperor... he wishes for nothing more than your life, according to our best sources."

"Is that so." Zog grinned. "Well, while I would be happy to settle it with him directly, there are certain customs that must be followed. How is the palace defense set up?" The Gold Lord thought for a moment.

"We have ten thousand here already, of course. That many are kept here at all times. The first line of defense is at the entrance to the city; there are overwhelming numbers there at all times. There are patrols roaming the entire city at carefully set paths and patterns. We had to pull a lot of our men off of the Mole Clan watching, but that probably won't cause any problems... those slaves are guarded by a redundant amount of our people anyways. Then there's that business with the elevator..."

"Don't remind me." Zog groaned, rolling his eyes. "How that idiot from Spring got here in the first place, I'll never know."

"Actually, that could work out to our advantage." Jade smiled. "Ryu the Terrorist won't be able to use it either... which means his only method into the palace is by flight, which will DEFINATELY get him noticed."

"I hadn't thought of it that way." The Emperor admitted. "Very well... you make a good point, my Gold Lord. Continue."

"Inside the palace, once everybody settles down and shuts up, there will be a guardpost at every corner of every hall. A mouse won't be able to walk around without being noticed. In addition, in..." Jade thought for a moment. "...two days, I suppose, an additional ten thousand will be arriving from the Lands of the West, doubling our garrison. Let Ryu the Terrorist try to get through THAT."

"If he waits that long." Zog said skeptically. "Which I doubt. I think we'll have to count on just our men here. And what of the remaining half of the Tiamat Unit?"

"We will be the last line of defense." Jade decided. "Before the hall leading to this room is a long set of stairs. Black will wait at the bottom of those stairs, Silver at the top, and myself in the hall right outside this room. They may have killed three of us seperately, but all at once? Inconceivable."

"It'll almost be like the Fusion Massacre all over again." Zog chuckled. "Very well. I am confident in the defenses. Oh, and by the way..." Zog's eyes narrowed dangerously, though a smile remained on his face. "Would you, by any chance, happen to know anything about why the Time Key is no longer in our possession, my ever-faithful Gold Lord?" Jade froze.

"Ah... my Emperor, I... may have made a mistake in judgement."

"Do tell." Zog nodded. "I just can not WAIT to hear the reasoning behind this... I am sure it will be convincing."

"White... required it for a successful campaign against Ryu the Terrorist." Jade explained hastily. "Tock, where it was designed to be used, was in the territory of the confrontation... since they had already killed Blue and Red, she reasoned that she wouldn't have much of a chance without it... and I agreed with her. But..."

"But you knew I would never agree with you taking the Time Key." Zog finished. "So you had her steal it... and then she was killed as well, and Ryu acquired that Key from us as well. Six to one now." Jade lowered himself onto a knee.

"My Emperor... I was wrong. Forgive me..."

"Relax, my Gold Lord." Zog waved at him to rise. "Ryu the Terrorist is coming here, is he not? Soon, the Time Key will be returned to us, along with the five others needed to release the Goddess Myria. And then... the world will be ours, and we shall regain what we lost long ago..." He smiled. "However... do try not to make a habit of these things, hm? I trust you more than any other, my faithful Gold Lord... and I would hate to have to change that."

"No need, my Emperor." Jade assured him. "Now and forever, I am your servant. By your leave." Zog nodded.

"Dismissed... inform your Unit, if you have not already. We don't have much time left." Jade departed, shaking. However, as soon as he had left Zog's throne room, he regained his calm. From the shadows, two figures stepped up and joined him silently on either side. One a mighty giant with blood-red skin, the other wrapped in grey robes from head to toe.

"So, how did it go?" Silver asked. Jade shrugged.

"As we expected. It was close for a moment, but I passed."

"And did you tell him that White was dead?" Goda demanded. Jade shot him a look.

"For all intents and purposes, White IS dead, Black. That pitiful remnant is not one of us... she is no business of ours. There's no need to complicate anybody else's judgement of the matter with the details. We know the truth, and Ryu knows. That is enough."

"Very well, then." Silver inclined her head briefly. "Then... are we ready?"

"Almost." Jade smiled. "But the Endgame has begun... it's only a matter of time now. The Emperor is ready, and that should inspire us, should it not?" He began laughing, long and loud. After a moment, Silver joined him, and then Goda did as well. Their combined laughter echoed through the halls of the palace, and even in their panicked state, not a soldier could surpress a shiver; and the few who had been present at the Fusion Clan massacre were worse. They knew, firsthand, what that laughter could mean.

The city of Scande, heart of the Dark Dragon Empire, was structured unlike any other city in the world. The entire city was a single, vast structure, made of blue and silver metal. Surrounded by two fifty-foot walls, a ring of mountains and the Red Swamp, it was virtually impregnable to direct assault. Inside all of that was the city itself. The truly different thing was, Scande was mostly vertical. Each level had, instead of streets, a wide balcony on the foremost edge, with doors along its back leading into individual residences. Sets of stairs led downward to the next level along the vast steel cliff face. The higher your standing in the empire, the closer to the top you lived. On top of the mass of metal was where one entered; here, the only feature was the great tower-palace. The top floor was the only way into Scande; below the lowest part of the structure was a void of hundreds of more feet, stretching down into the depths of the planet itself. Today, at the entrance by the gates of the two defensive walls, a squad of soldiers relaxed. There were no superior officers around, and none of them spotted a danger. Their leader looked up lazily as another group approached from outside.

"All right, hold it." Stretching, he stood up and walked over. There were eight of them; one a Knight. He snapped off a hasty salute, then glanced at the others. Four of them seemed normal enough, although they were all bulked up in full dress, so it was hard to make out details. One of them was almost as large as the feared Black Warrior, however, and another strangely short. And one was wearing what seemed to be the lower half of a dress beneath her armor... a female?

"Equal opportunity policy." The Knight explained upon seeing his frown. "An idea of the White Assassin's before her fall. Here's our pass." The guard glanced at it.

"Sir Ray, eh? Very well, I guess it's okay. Wish we had an equal opportunity policy, or whatever you called it." His men hooted in agreement. "Come on in." He opened the gate, and the squad stepped inside. "Haven't seen you around here before, sir. Been on border patrol for most of your career?"

"You could say that." Sir Ray nodded. "You're right, though; I haven't been in Scande often. Listen, friend, I need a favor. We'd like to spend some time here taking a break. Could you tell a buddy a good place to get a drink or ten?" The soldier grinned; who said officers were all jerks?

"Got just the place, sir. Third level, fifth door on your right. Place called the Swamp Dragon. Tell 'em you're a friend of Johnny's."

"Thanks, Johnny." Sir Ray tipped his helmet. "You ever get in trouble with your superior officer, tell me and I'll take care of it." He led his seven troops away, and the guard returned to his own buddies. Once they were safely away, Ryu let out a breath he had ben holding in. "Whew. Well, that's the first hurdle down..."

"Fast thinking, boss." Gobi grinned. "Thought Deis was gonna buy it for us back there."

"Well, excuse me for having a tail instead of legs." Deis muttered. "Most guys I meet don't mind."

"Mind out of the gutter and back on the subject, please." Nina rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's hit this Swamp Dragon bar-although the name doesn't fill me with optimism-and find out what's what." The stairs down were in front of the tower-palace. It didn't seem to have a door at the bottom; instead, there was a strange raised platform. Near it on the wall was some sort of control panel that was smoking.

"What's THAT?" Karn asked. Deis frowned.

"That's an elevator... type of machine that'll take you to the top of the tower. Looks like it's busted, though."

"Figures." Ryu sighed. "Maybe somebody in the Swamp Dragon'll know what's up." The other soldiers they met on the way down weren't as friendly as Johnny's group had been; they rudely told the group to stay out of their way until they saw Ryu, who they hastily saluted. As they neared the third floor, Deis' face grew grimmer and grimmer.

"Something up?" Bo inquired. She nodded.

"Yeah. I recognize this place, that's what. Maybe they call it Scande now, but that's not it was originally... this is the uppermost portion of Obelisk!"

"Obelisk?" Karn scratched his head. "Wasn't that the floating fortress of the Goddess Myria herself?"

"Correct." Deis agreed. "At the end of the Dragon War, it crashed into here and was almost completely buried. Looks like they're still working on excavating it... wonder how."

"My people, that's how." Mogu growled. "That's what they need us for... they're using us to dig out Obelisk."

"That seems to be it." Ryu nodded. "Didn't you say you put one of the Goddess Keys down here too, Deis?"

"The Queen Key." Deis confirmed. "They have to have it."

"Well, we'll take that one off their hands too in the end, I guess." Ryu frowned. "Something just occured to me. What exactly do we do with the Goddess Keys once WE have all seven? They can't be destroyed, can they?"

"Not in any way WE could figure out, and believe me, we tried." Deis confirmed. "We did everything we could think of, and they survived without a scratch."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe we'll launch them into the sun." Karn suggested, making the Sorceress choke. "Here's the Swamp Dragon, though... and here's a hint. Don't talk about Goddess Keys inside." The Swamp Dragon was a rather dismal, shabby building; soldiers and civilians sat around in small groups, talking quietly to one another. Nobody looked up as they entered.

"See anybody who looks particularly talkative?" Gobi suggested. Ryu's gaze swept the room and lit up.

"I think I've got somebody..." He led the way over to a table in a back corner. A single man was having a quiet drink. It was the mysterious robed man, today wearing clothing of a deep blue. As usual, he was totally concealed. He didn't move an eyelid as they sat down.

"Sir Ray." He greeted them. "I've been expecting you."  
"Why I am I not surprised to find you here." Ryu smiled, placing an order with a serving wench in an outfit that made Nina snort with disgust. "So, how are things in Scande today? We've just gotten in from, ah, border patrol."

"Not good." The cloaked man shook his head. "Rumor has it that Ryu the Terrorist will be coming here soon, Sir Ray. Everybody's on guard. If he DID launch an attack, he would have to at least get into the tower-palace without being noticed by outside forces."

"Yeah, well, we noticed something was up with that elevator thingy." Gobi added. The cloaked man nodded.

"Yes... it seems a master climber from Spring came here and scaled the side of the entire tower... and then, while everybody was busy staring, he made off with some vital control parts as a souvenier. He got away with only a broken leg, and everybody's been too busy here to chase him down."

"Barry the Climber?" Mogu blinked. "We met him!"

"Well, there you go." The cloaked man took a sip of his drink, which was bright green. "Find him, and get the parts. Do you have a method of fast transportation?" Ryu glanced at Nina, then nodded.

"Yeah... we can get to Spring and back in a few hours." The cloaked man nodded.

"Do so. In two days, fifteen thousand more soldiers will be arriving here from all over the Lands of the West. I don't need to tell you how bad that would be."

"Ah... no." Ox deadpanned. "Is there any GOOD news?"

"Actually, there is." The cloaked man seemed to smile beneath his hood. "The Mole Clanners have escaped." Mogu spit out his drink.

"What! Escaped!"

"Seems so..." The cloaked man nodded. "I don't know the details, but... apparently, some sympathizer who's high up in the ranks sneaked in, set them free and got them to a place where they could dig to safety. Emperor Zog is Not Happy... if Ryu the Terrorist fails, he'll probably do some very nasty things up in Gramor."

"We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen then, won't we." Ox chuckled darkly. The cloaked man finished his drink and stood up.

"You're close now. The only thing left for you to do is get up that tower. Find this Barry the Climber of yours fast. Good luck." Standing, he paid his bill and left. Ryu and hid friends waited a bit, then did the same. A different set of guards at the entrance to Scande let them out. Once they were out of eyesight, Nina became the Great Bird and flew them to Spring. As they entered, a few people began muttering darkly. Ryu frowned.

"What's... oh." They removed their helmets, and the people smiled, recognizing them. At Barry's, his wife met them.

"Oh, hello Ryu! I thought you had gone to Scande!"

"We did." Ryu explained. "Is Barry here? We need to ask him something..."

"He's inside." Barry's wife showed them to their bed, where the Climber was relazing, his leg in a cast.  
"Oh, hey guys!" Barry waved. "What's up?"

"We heard you climbed the Scande Tower recently." Gobi grinned. "Pretty cool."

"Thanks." Barry winced. "Unfortunately, this happened while I was leaving."

"That's why we're here." Ryu admitted. "We heard about how you took the parts from the elevator... I hate to say this, but could we have them? We need to use it."

"Of course! You know I owe you guys big!" Barry assured them. His wife produced a tangle of electronic wiring and mechanisms. "There you go... although I don't know how the thing works myself."

"We'll figure it out." Karn grinned. "Well, we gotta be going... sorry, but we're kinda on a tight time limit."

"I understand." Barry nodded. "Come back here sometime after you've whupped Zog, though! Spring is great all year round!"

"We will." Ryu promised. They raced back to Scande as fast as Nina could take them; fortunately, the Great Bird was built for distance, and she wasn't exhausted. They got back in with little trouble, and made for the tower.

"Okay, now what?" Nina asked the obvious question once they arrived. "Deis, do you...?" The Sorceress shook her head emphatically.

"Nuh-UH. I know what they are; I've got no clue how they work."

"Leave this to me." The cloaked man seemed to materialize out of a shadowy corner. He had changed colors again; now, he was in a dark, almost black violet. "I know how to fix the elevator."

"Do you now." Ryu handed him the parts. "Listen, friend. I admit, I appreciate all the help you've given us... but who the heck are you, anyways?"

"Ah... so you're wondering about that, now." The cloaked man didn't seem surprised. "I can't give you a straight answer... not right now. Let's say... somebody who wants the same thing as you. I want Emperor Zog dead. And you guys are the best way of making that happen."

"Did Zog do something to you?" Bo asked. The cloaked man chuckled.

"Something like that. It's not... shall we say, safe... for anybody to know my identity now. Once Zog's dead, I'll explain everything. For now, though, I'll fix the elevator for you. You made it back here in excellent time... congratulations." He looked at the parts. "Hm... this could be a problem."

"You just said you could fix them!" Mogu protested. The cloaked man nodded.

"And so I shall. However, with them like this, it will take a while. About a day." Ryu sighed.

"Great. Well, just hurry it up then... if you can make it in that time, we can be up there before those reinforcements arrive, but not by much."

"So we just sit back for the day?" Ox frowned. "There's got to be something we can do to help..." The cloaked man started to respond, then stopped, thinking.

"Well... hm. There is a possibility... with your speed of transport. How fast could you get to Tunlan and back?"

"About half a day total." Nina answered. "Why?"

"There's something there." The man rummaged in his cloak and pulled out a bottle with a cork in its top. "This is specially made... it can store sounds-music, in particular-and play it later."

"There's a song in Tunlan you want us to get?" Karn guessed. The man nodded.

"For your own aid. The song is called... Dragonsbane." Ryu hissed. "You've heard of it, I see. Hearing it will cause great pain and severely weaken any member of the Dragon Clan... Light or Dark."

"I get it." Bo's eyes narrowed. "You think we might need this to beat Zog."

"Zog is Emperor for a reason." The cloaked man turned to the control panel. "It's up to you... but if you have nothing else to do until I complete this, I'd suggest it."

"...We need all the help we can get." Ryu decided. "There and back in half a day, Nina? All right... that'll still give us half a day to rest up here. Let's go." Leaving Scande again, they flew off across the ocean to the northeast. After a few hours, Nina touched down on the island of Tunlan. They immediately rushed to the palace.

"Ryu! And all your friends!" Callis greeted them. "What brings you back here?"

"We need help." Ryu told her without preamble. "A song... it's called Dragonsbane. Do you know anybody who knows it?"

"As a matter of fact, I pride myself on playing that song well." Another voice said from behind Callis. It was Princess Archne. She smiled at them. "Greetings... I'm hoping we can forget any differences we've had in the past. Believe me, the experience has made me grow up. I just wish there was some way to get back at Emperor Zog..."

"As a matter of fact..." Bo grinned evilly, holding up the bottle. "This here records music. If you'd be so kind as to play it for us and let us take a recording... we were figuring on playing it for Zog when we met him." Slowly, Archne grinned as well.

"I like the way you think. This way, please." She led them to a large piano. Ryu held up a hand.

"Er... excuse me, but I don't think I should listen. Nothing personal. I'll... wait outside." The Princess waited until he was gone, then began playing. Bo quickly opened the bottle. The Dragonsbane song was loud and echoing, with strange crashes and rumbles; it had a beautiful sound, but strange, ancient... and threatening. As soon as it was over, Bo corked the bottle again.

"Sounded great. You're very good at that, your highness."

"Thank you." Archne smiled. "I hope Emperor Zog appreciates it as much as you did."

"I'm sure he will." Ryu said, reentering. "We owe you one, your highness."

"No... we're even from the incident with the Time Key." Archne told him. "I can see by your faces that you need to be off, but come back when you're done. Tunlan will always be open to you." Promising again to return some day, the group took off once more. Back at Scande, the cloaked man was hard at work.

"Did you get it?" He glanced at Ryu, who nodded. "Good. There's an inn on the second level... first door on your left. Get some rest... you'll likely need it. And be ready... there's no turning back now."

"Excuse me, sir." The innkeeper knocked on Ryu's door. "A… man asked that I take a message to you. He says… everything's ready." A moment later, Ryu opened the door, face grim.

"Thank you." He roused the others, and they paid their bill, then walked towards the elevator. It was completely repaired. Deis did something with the control panel, and the doors of the lift opened. Silently, they crowded onto the elevator and waited as it started to rise. Up and up they went, towards the top of the tower; shucking off their disguises as they went. And then, they waited. The lift went higher and higher, as each thought to themselves. Ryu looked at their faces, one by one. Nina, older but still the princess he had met long ago, with hope for the future… Bo, reliable and resolute, determination stamped on his wolfish features… Karn, changed by his encounters with Cerl but still excited and resolved… Gobi, his true thoughts inscrutable but his grin as cocky as ever… Ox, simultaneously showing quiet anger and worry… Deis, calm and confident, perhaps remembering a similar adventure long ago… Mogu, cautious as always, but ready for anything… and on his own, reassurance. Trust, in all of them. None of them spoke… none of them needed to. They turned towards the tower, as the lift arrived at the top… with a ding, the doors opened. Scattered across the lobby, Dark Dragon soldiers turned at the noise, and stared, motionless. The heroes looked back, and then Gobi shrugged, dropping a bomb he had bought at a shop in Scande onto his foot, then kicking it into the largest cluster of soldiers.

The explosion was like a starting bell; the heroes took off, blasting towards a doorway as one united mass. Shouts and bells of alarm rang through the complex as they blasted into the halls. Ox, Ryu, Mogu and Nina were in front, pounding and hacking and gouging and slashing anything in their path like some mighty engine of destruction. The Wing Clan princess surprised them all; she no longer darted in and out for quick thrusts, but ripped soldiers across their entire bodies with blisteringly fast horizontal swipes. In the center of the mass, Bo and Deis rained destructive spells and deadly arrows over their heads, and behind them, Gobi and Karn guarded the rear, impaling and disemboweling any pursuers who came too near. Reluctant common soldiers, shocked Knights, screaming Generals, furious Captains; all of them were mowed down as the heroes ripped through the tower palace. Behind them, barred gated shot up from the floor, trying to cut them off but always too slow. When one would occasionally catch up and rise in front of them, Ox and Deis would batter and blast it down immediately. They passed a break room full of startled guards… a giant fountain bursting with Water of Life… a weapons storage room, packed full of instruments of war… Ryu searched frantically for anything resembling a prison, but there was nothing. No sign of Sara. Now the worst defenses were being mobilized, and horrible monsters were released into their path. Disembodied suits of armor with no life inside... huge, green crabs similar to the final form of Admiral Cean... all went down. Finally, the heroes reached a long hall filled with decorative pillars.

"We're near the throne room, if the layout's similar to what Obelisk used to be!" Deis shouted, picking off a pursuing General with a fireball. Beyond the hall of pillars was a door, which they smashed down… a long set of stairs… another door fell… a second hall, this one carpeted in red… strangely, there were no guards at all in any of these, but they had no time to ponder the strangeness of this. Rushing down, they battered down one more door at the end of the red-carpeted hallway, and emerged in Emperor Zog's throne room.

"Welcome… Ryu." The Emperor of the Dark Dragons greeted them laconically. He was a large man; not as much as Goda, but still tall and bulky. Clad in black armor that seemed to have been carved out of obsidian, he was a fearsome sight, like some combination of dragon and man. The only thing detracting from the effect was his exposed face, but that was something all by itself, his hair and beard dyed a flaming red. His eyes were the worst, though; they glimmered with madness, with an insane need to have one's wishes carried out no matter the cost. At the moment, however, his face was strange… resigned, almost gloomy. Even stranger was the little girl seated on the arm of his throne. Seeing them look at her, he smiled. "My daughter, Princess Victoria. She is the only joy I have left to me as a man, instead of an Emperor."

"You might want to send her away." Ryu suggested, taking in the rest of the throne room with his eyes as he spoke. Built like an ampitheater, it had various smaller chairs all around, with five colored thrones positioned equally around the room. "This isn't going to be civil for long."

"Understandable." Zog turned to his daughter. "Go outside and tell all the soldiers who are coming here to return to their posts. They are not needed here. Once that's done, go and leave Scande… take somebody in the army you trust with you, and head north. And remember what I told you about the Tiamat Unit." The young girl nodded and walked out of the room behind them calmly.

"Something wrong with the Tiamat Unit?" Bo inquired. "We didn't run into any of them on our way in here…"

"A personal matter… I have made some decisions wrong, it seems." Zog smiled a bit sadly. "Ah well, it matters not. I will admit, I am surprised you made it here. And here I thought the Light Dragons had grown weak… you prove me wrong, Ryu. You make the Dragon Clan proud. If I had known of you and your sister, I would never have ordered Drogen burned… no, I would have invited you and your kind to join us instead."

"Sara?" Ryu demanded. "She's here, then? Where is she? What have you done to her?" Zog stared at him for a moment, then laughed deeply.

"You don't know? I should have guessed… well, that's not my secret to tell. This wasn't the first time we met, you know… it was at the completion of her pilgrimage, that was it. Of course, back then I had no idea what she was capable of… let alone of what her little brother could do. She didn't like me, unfortunately… she still doesn't seem to. Isn't that a shame?"

"Not surprising." Bo growled. "You're not exactly the most popular guy in the world, you know."

"Yes, but I AM the most powerful." Zog grinned. "And that's more than enough for me… I can take or leave popularity, but power… ah, THAT, there's nothing like. You know, don't you, Ryu… you've completed your own pilgrimage. You know what it's like to have power… it feels good, doesn't it?"

"Having power and abusing it are two very different things." Ryu growled. "You received power, Zog… and you misused it. You don't deserve the power of the Dragon."

"On the contrary!" The Emperor wagged a finger. "My goals are altruistic. Look at the world. Before I came along, the Clans were separated… Forest Clanners didn't associate with Wing Clanners, Builder Clanners didn't associate with Mole Clanners… and look at you all now. You know, I don't hate you… quite the opposite, I admire you. You're the living embodiment of my dream. The world… unified. Everybody serving one goal, one common purpose, living together."

"And that world would be ruled by you, of course?" Bo asked drily. Zog shrugged.

"Who else would have the correct mindset to keep it in check? And, of course, I believe the Dragon Clan to be superior. Not just the Dark Dragons… the entire Clan. Light Dragon, Dark Dragon, they're not so different… there was a time when there WAS no difference. And now, look at the world… the Lands of the West are unified under my rule. And the Lands of the East? Not under my rule, but they ARE as one… they are an alliance, one whole. I admire them. My dream is near completion… and this is why I gladly enter battle with you. With you especially, Ryu… for even if I die, you shall finish my dream for me."

"I'm not interested in any dream of yours, Zog." Ryu spat. "All I'm interested in is removing you… from your throne, from your empire, from existence itself. You're through, Zog!"

"Cocky, aren't we…" Zog smiled, standing up. "But I'm afraid I'm not going to go down that easily. You all have power, I will admit, and you MIGHT be able to defeat me… but I am still the most powerful man in the world!"

"I've finished the pilgrimage too, remember?" Ryu told him. "I know what the ultimate power of the Dragon can do!"

"Ryu, Ryu… if you're going to be the mightiest Light Dragon in the world, you must remember the basics." Zog grinned, and his teeth began sharpening and lengthening. "Every Dragon Clanner's final, true form is different. Allow me to show you the difference between that of a hero.. And that of an EMPEROR!" Roaring, he leapt into the air, and grew… and grew, and grew, and grew. Everybody stared, as the Emperor of the Dark Dragons became too large for the room to hold; his body burst through the back wall of the throne room, into the night sky outside. As he continued shifting, he wrapped his body around the palace-tower, digging into it with claws and tail. They could not see him for a moment… and then he plunged his head back inside on an insanely long neck. It was all that would fit; the Dark Dragon Emperor was literally measured in miles. His scales were a dark purple, and three horns protruded, two on the back of his head and one atop his snout. He grinned, exposing teeth almost as large as Ox. Only his eyes were the same; red like a lava flow, and dancing with a terrible madness.

"Ladon…" Bo breathed. "How are we supposed to beat THIS?" Ryu was the first to recover; leaping into the air, he transformed himself into his own Rudra form.

"Come on! He's big, but we're tougher… we know it! Let's take him down!" The others recovered as well, rallying around him to face the Emperor.

"Impressive…" Zog growled. "Much smaller than mine, but I can sense the ferocity… the power. Come, Ryu! Nina, Bo, Karn, Gobi, Ox, Deis, Mogu! All of you, show me what you are! Prove to me your destiny!" His head rushed forward, aiming for Ryu. The mighty jaws closed… and met scales they could not pierce.

"Drop him NOW!" Deis commanded, hitting the Emperor with the same rising pillar of flaming death that Mote had unleashed in his final, crazed moments. Zog recoiled, eyes crossing, and the other followed up, battering at his chin with sledge and knife and pike and claw. Zog's mouth opened, and Ryu scrambled out.

"My turn!" Facing the open maw, he inhaled, then released a molten stream of energy, in the form of hundreds of small flying shapes that clustered around the Dark Dragon Emperor. Growling, he shook them off and lunged forward again, this time going for Nina. The Wing Clan Princess was ready; at the last moment, she dodged to the side and then moved forward, sword in motion.

"Don't underestimate me… any of us, Zog!" She yelled. Unfortunately, what would have been a mighty blow was reduced to only a scratch by Zog's sheer size. Bo fired, aiming for his eyes, but Zog saw the arrows and closed them. The arrows bounced harmlessly off his armored eyelids.

"Damn…" The Forest Clan archer swore. "Can't get through those scales with my stuff… I'm useless!"

"Don't talk like that!" Deis commanded, hitting Zog with another inferno. "Figure out another way of taking him down!"

"You support each other… help each other in battle as well as in peace." Zog observed, moving towards Gobi and succeeding. Before he could chew more than once, however, Ox was there, smashing the upper jaw off with his sledge and pulling the fat Maniro out. "Your strength is not as individuals, though you are formidable, but as a unified team…"

"That's how we took down half the Tiamat Unit!" Karn agreed. "And that's how you're going to fall too! The bigger they are and all that!"

"Keep in mind, little Fusion Clanner, that that bit about falling hard has TWO interpretations!" Zog snickered. "You seem to be defending yourselves well against my first offensive… shall we change tactics, then?" Even as Ryu delivered another blistering breath attack, the Emperor prepared for his own. Out from his maw, a chain of shimmering, golden-white fire curved out, seeking them all and plowing through one after another.

"Augh! Damn, that hurts!" Gobi swore, beating at his clothing to put it out. "You're going to pay for that one!" Pike, claw, sledge and knife lashed out again. Bo shook his head, then smiled at a sudden idea.

"I've got it!" Drawing back his bow, he released arrows again… but even as they flew, they changed. Bo's low-level offensive magic combined with them, and what struck Zog's open mouth were barbed, piercing projectiles of fire. Yowling, the Emperor struggled to spit them out, but they refused to come loose, and were soon added to by arrows of frigidly cold ice and shocking electricity.

"That's the way to do it!" Nina cheered, slicing at the point just below his muzzle horn. Bellowing, Zog released another stream of golden fire, but the heroes ignored it this time, taking the pain in stride as they continued their assault.

"You just don't get it, do you, Zog?" Ryu challenged. "No matter how much power you have… you can't stop us! Anything you do, any attack is futile… we'll never give up! Not until you're nothing but a bad memory for the world!"

"Mistaken again… I 'get it' perfectly." Zog grinned fearlessly. "You forget, I have spent more time than any other man with some who are much like you… my Tiamat Unit. I recognize my own greatest mistake with them… a mistake that none of you make. But as they say… the spirit may be willing, but the flesh… remains MORTAL!" He inhaled deeply, and then released his breath… but it was not the golden fire. It was a million times worse. It was innumerable lances of pure pain, a network of light that danced through the room, ripping through them all like a force of nature. The eight heroes fell to their knees, and Zog gloated. "You see what I mean?"

"No…" Ryu hissed. One by one, the heroes stood back up, defiant. "You're wrong again. We told you… no matter how much you do to us… we'll just keep coming!" Roaring, he charged with Ox, Mogu, Gobi and Karn to attack, fully frontal. Bo continued firing his magic-powered arrows, and Deis pulled yet another spell out of her metaphorical hat; a tightly packed cluster of hundreds, thousands of lightning bolts striking like a thunder god's hammer. Nina started to charge, then stopped, considering what she had done before.

"No… I've got to change too!" She concentrated, shimmered and screeched, becoming the Great Bird. Zog raised a scaly eyebrow, intrigued.

"Ah… the power of the Wing Clan! Nothing compared to that of the Dragon Clan, but marvelous nonetheless." Nina flew up and dived, beak first, slamming into Zog's face and seeking his eyes. "However…" Tossing his head, he caught her with his muzzle horn and slammed her into the ground. "Beautiful and useful though it may be, it is not suitable for fighting… not for this caliber, at least!"

"Damn… he just doesn't quit!" Ox growled. "Boss, what do we do? How are we going to finish this?" For while the heroes had put forth a mighty assault, the fact remained that nothing they had was capable of inflicting a mortal wound. Given time, Zog might perish from blood loss… but it went without saying that despite Ryu's words, they would be unable to hold out that long. Ryu thought frantically, scanning his mind… and he came upon the only choice.

"The Dragonsbane! Use it!"

"What?" Mogu gasped. "But… boss, you're Dragon Clan too! You'll…"

"No choice!" Ryu snapped. "It's our only hope of winning! DO IT!" It was Bo who nodded and pulled out the bottle.

"Your call, boss… as always. We'll do what you say… even this." He removed the cork. For just a moment, there was silence; nobody moved, even Zog, who could tell something was out. And then the Dragonsbane song poured forth, mystical and echoing and lovely. For most of them. But as soon as the first note was heard, Ryu and Zog's faces contorted. Agony… unimaginable pain filled every fiber of their being. Together, as the strangely melodic song filled their ears, the Emperor of the Dark Dragons and the Hero of the Light Dragons writhed in unison, sharing this most base of feelings. The song ended, and both fell; Ryu slammed to the floor, and Zog's head sank much more spectacularly.  
"Ryu!" Nina screamed, reverting to her normal form and rushing over. "Thank Ladon… he's still alive!"

"Lo…" Ryu moaned. "Look out…" The heroes turned, realizing that if Ryu still lived… Zog did as well.

"Close, but not enough!" Zog's head slowly rose as he inhaled. "This will finish it… none of you are close enough to strike me first! Goodbye!" He smiled, and his eyes glimmered as he prepared to exhale and destroy them… and then he frowned, as he heard the whistle of something flying through the air. And then… his mad eyes were struck, pierced through, the dancing lights beneath them extinguished.

"Not all of us have you get close to attack." Bo lowered his weapon. "And THAT… was the last you had." Zog looked down at him with blinded eyes that no longer glowed… and nodded in agreement.

"That… it was." Again his head fell to the ground, this time for real, darkening and shrinking. When he was done, the armored Emperor sat on his throne once more. He looked undamaged, his armor was perfect, but they knew differently. As if to confirm it, he bent over and coughed up blood. "Even now… I underestimated you. You have defeated me… but my dream remains."

"Your dream…" Ryu frowned, also reverting. "Your dream of the world united… under you?"

"Not just… me." Zog smiled, despite his impending death. "Under… the Dragon Clan. Once… we were mighty. Once… we were great, feared and respected by all. But when I came to the throne… the Dark Dragons were feared, but not respected… we were loathed, hated. And the Light Dragons… nonentities, hiding from the world. This was not right… this was not what Ladon desired."

"Ladon!" Nina demanded. "Ladon was the one who told you of this dream?"

"That's right…" Zog coughed blood again. "Now… I die, my task close to completion but not fulfilled. You, my slayers… the task is yours now. Rebuild the world… unite it, under your names. You are the saviors… they will obey you. Ryu… return the Dragon Clan to its glory. It is… your destiny." Slowly, he reached up and removed the golden crown from atop his helmet. He tossed it along the ground in Ryu's direction, and saluted him… smiling. He remained smiling even as he sank back into his throne, and the Emperor's mad eyes closed for the last time.

"Zog…" Bo muttered. "You…" Before he could speak again, the room began shaking. In the heat of the battle, none of them had noticed the structural damage cause by Zog's titanic Dragon form. Now, the throne room could not hold out any more. With a final rumble, the floor gave in. Caught by surprise, none of them could escape, and they fell down, down…

_"That was a fun day, Sara." Ryu smiled, giving his older sister a gap-toothed grin as he kicked off his sandals. Sara rolled her eyes._

"Fun? Ryu, you came into the Temple ten minutes late, covered in mud. Not only that, but you put frogs in everybody's pockets while they were praying… and after THAT, you waited until everybody had left, then vandalized the Statue of Ladon!"

"Like I said, a fun day!" Ryu laughed. Sara closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, praying to Ladon for strength.

"You… ugh. Never mind. Listen, don't track mud around the house. Get upstairs and take a bath. You don't need me to help, do you?"

"Nah." Ryu shook his head. "I'm ten now, Sara. I can take a bath by myself."

"That's good to know." Sara smiled. "I'm going to be leaving in a few years, after all." The bottom dropped out of Ryu's equilibrium.

"Leaving? Why, Sara?"

"The Pilgrimage, remember?" Sara reminded him. "In a few more years, I'll have to go visit all the Dragon Shrines alone. I have to, if I want to become a priestess. It's the rule."

"Sara…" Ryu rubbed his nose. "You've never gone away for that long before…"

"I know, but you'll be fine." Sara smiled. "You're a big boy now, remember? And grandpa and grandma will still be here… you'll be fine. I know you want to come with me, but you can't… you just can't, Ryu. I'm sorry."

"It's… all right." Ryu made an effort to smile. "I'm tough, you know. But… you will come back, won't you, Sara?"

"Of course I will." Sara lightly bonked him on the head. "I'll always come back to you, Ryu. You know that. Always." Ryu smiled.

"Then I'll be fine. I'll wait for you… until the day you come back." Running upstairs, he took a quick bath, then leaped into bed and fell asleep.

"Ryu…" Sara's voice echoed in his mind. "Wake up, Ryu…"

"Uh…" Ryu stirred. "What is it, Sara…"

"Come on, Ryu. Wake up." Sara's voice was the same as it had always been, calm and soothing. Ryu slowly opened his eyes.

"Sara…" And then, like a lightning bolt, it hit him. "SARA!" He scrambled to his feet. He was in Scande, and they had fallen… he looked around. They had landed in some kind of pit beneath the throne room, with perfectly smooth sides all the way around and no door. The others were all conscious already.

"Ryu!" Nina smiled. "Look who we found down here!" Still not really realizing things, Ryu's eyes roamed some more, settling on a set of manacles in the wall.

"Yeah, she was in those…" Ox nodded. "We got her out, though."

"Ryu, I'm so glad…" Sara whispered, and the Light Dragon looked at her once more. Sara, for everything she had gone through, looked surprisingly healthy; she was still wearing her white priestess' robes, and her hair, as blue as his, flowed down her back.

"Sara…" Ryu ran forward and embraced her. "Sis… you're alive… I found you…"

"I knew…" Sara hugged him. "All the time they kept me locked down here…I knew you would come here. I knew you would find me."

"Sara's told us the whole story." Nina explained. "After she left you to fight the Dark Dragons back in Drogen, Jade thrashed her and brought her back here… they've been keeping her down here to try and torture her into swearing fealty to Zog."

"But now that Zog's dead, I don't see that happening!" Gobi gave Sara his best honest-trustworthy-salesman grin. "Put your mind at rest… you're back among friends now!"

"Friends…" Sara looked at them all. "Thank you… all of you… for helping Ryu." She released her younger brother and looked him over. "Ryu… I can see it. You've become a great warrior… mightier even than Zog." There was a sound of sobbing, and they all glanced over to see Ox, facing the wall. Karn blinked.

"Hey, big guy! Control yourself!"

"I can't help it…" The huge Builder Clanner admitted. "I'm so happy for you both…"

"Happy…" Sara nodded. "Yes… happy. You should be… we all should. The world's been saved… just like always. The next Ryu… little brother, you did it. Only one task remains…"

"And that is?" Bo asked. Sara didn't answer at first; instead, she turned away, towards the back of the cell. Moving aside a loose brick, she pulled something out. Everybody stared. It was a key of solid, glittering gold; its length filled with decorative spines and curls. At the top was a flat circle engraved with a green carving of a queenly woman.

"The Queen Key…?" Deis asked incredulously. Sara nodded.

"They put this down here as well, to taunt me… they never dreamed you would ever rescue me. You have the other six keys?" Ryu nodded. "Good. We must destroy them now… so they may never be sought by those with evil hearts again."

"Destroy them?" Mogu blinked. "You know a way? Deis said it was impossible…"

"Nearly impossible…" Sara agreed. "But I think I can do it. Down here, alone… I haven't had anything to do but practice my powers… those given to me by Ladon, as a priestess. If I bathe all seven Keys in Ladon's holy light, the strongest I can summon, together… I may be able to override the power of Myria. Let me try, at least."

"It's worth a shot." Ryu agreed, digging into his pouch. Earth Key, King Key, Light Key, Dark Key, Sky Key, Time Key… one by one, he held them in his hands. "You're the only one in the world aside from ourselves I trust with these, Sara… remove them from existence." Everybody else smiled and nodded, but Nina frowned inwardly. Something was up. Something was wrong, something looked familiar… and then, too late, she realized.

"RYU! NO!" The Wing Clan Princess yelled, even as the Keys fell into Sara's hands. Instantly, she leaped back against the wall, and before anybody could move, a barrier of silver light sprang up between her and the heroes.

"Ha! Close, but no cigar! Too late, Wing Clan Princess!" Sara laughed. But it was not the clear, happy laugh Ryu remembered… it was dark, malevolent. Before their stunned eyes, two figures appeared by her side. One, a tall, muscle-bound brute with blood-red skin… and the other, the mysterious cloaked man who had aided them, now wearing shimmering gold. And then, he threw the cloak off, revealing himself. White cape… blonde hair… triumphant smirk… it could only be one man, especially since they already recognized his companion, the Black Warrior.

"Jade!" Bo hissed in fury. "The Gold Lord!"  
"Sara…?" Ryu whispered. "What are you doing… why are you…?" Sara laughed again, mockingly.

"Don't you realize it yet, little brother? Your girlfriend did… too late, but still faster than you. Does this help?" Her white robes darkened to grey, and she pulled a hood up… and as a final touch, the six-headed dragon insignia appeared on the front of her robes, the same emblem that adorned Goda's and Jade's armor. Ryu's jaw hung open in horror, and his face whitened.

"You're… no! NO!"

"Yes!" Sara dropped the hood again. "Sorry, little bro… but things change. I am Sara, Silver Priestess of the Tiamat Unit. We who have no past and no future… salute you all. And thank you… for the Goddess Keys." She turned to Jade. "Here they are, Lord Jade… all seven, present and accounted for."

"You have done well, Silver." Jade smiled coldly, then turned to Ryu. "Thanks, guys… I owe you one. Not only did you find all the Keys for me… you got rid of Zog."

"You…" Karn's eyes were flat with rage. "That's why you were helping us! All those times... just moving us forward to take out Zog for you?"

"Of course." Jade laughed. "Like I told you, I wanted Zog dead… I never said why, did I?" He sighed, and for a moment, he actually looked regretful. "It wasn't easy… Zog was my oldest friend, ever since we were children. But he stood in the way of fate, of destiny… his mad dreams were unfit for summoning Myria. And so, he had to be removed from the picture. There were... other reasons, too, but those are none of your business. Once that happened, all we had to do was get the Keys from you… a task uniquely suited to our newest, and last member of the Tiamat Unit. Your sister, Ryu." Ryu shook his head.

""But… Sara? How? Why would you…?"

"Like the girl said, people change." Jade reminded him. "Sara's on my side now, Ryu… isn't that right?"

"I am the Silver Priestess now." Sara said simply. "That is all. Once, I may have been something... somebody else..." For a brief moment, her face softened, but then it was gone. "But the past is dead now. Sara of Drogen is long dead, brother. Now... I am your enemy."

"That's my girl." Jade nodded. "You see? Complete trust and servitude to me, like all of my Unit. Face facts, Ryu… she's one of us now, and you can't do a thing about it."

"No…" Ryu crumpled to the floor. "Sara… no…"

"Pull yourself together, Ryu." Jade warned him, still smiling. "After all, if you're a broken-down mess, you won't be able to stop us, will you? All three of us. The game isn't over... there's still a few parts left to play."

"We should leave." Sara suggested. She looked at Ryu. "We're going to Agua, little brother… it's time to release the Goddess Myria. We'll leave you here… if you're inventive enough, you'll find a way out. But be warned… don't come chasing us until you've come to terms with what I am now. Next time… I won't hold back on you." There was a rumbling from above, and a few more pieces of floor fell down, followed by something much heavier; Emperor Zog's dead body. Sara caught it easily and held it in her arms, despite its weight. Jade held out his own hand, and a moment later, something landed there as well. The crown.

"Mustn't forget this… we'll need it. See you all at the end of the world!" As one, the three remaining members of the Tiamat Unit disappeared. The barrier of light Sara had projected vanished as well, and the heroes were alone in the pit. They looked towards Ryu, horror and anger and sadness mixing on their faces. But on Ryu's face, as he crouched silently on the floor… there was no emotion. Not on his face, not in his eyes. Absolutely no emotion at all.


	19. Chapter 18: Dragon Killer

**__**

Chapter 18: Dragon Killer

"Yes, Bo, I'm SURE I can't fly us out." Nina sighed, exasperated. "For the third time. I'm not a hummingbird; I can't fly straight up. Mogu, do you-"

"For the third time here as well, no." Mogu looked irritated, something that almost never happened. "These floor tiles are too large, and they fit too closely. Can't pry them out to get to the dirt. If I was coming up from below, I could push it out of the way, sure, but not like this."

"So there is no way out." Deis growled. "Perfect. Figures those jerks were full of it." They had been trapped in the pit for several hours now, and everybody was starting to get angry... except for Ryu, who remained silent and emotionless. None of them had tried forcing him into action; none of them dared. Gobi grimaced and flopped down on a tile.

"Guess we couldn't do it after-WHOA!" He scrambled to his feet. "My tile moved!" Everybody watched as the tile he had been sitting on slowly shifted, lifted and moved aside. In its place was the head of an ancient Mole Clanner, with bushy white eyebrows and a mustache.

"Elder Dugron!" Mogu yelped in disbelief. The old Mole Clanner nodded at him.

"Mogu, my boy! I had heard you were with these folks. Come on, we're all getting out of here!" He disappeared back into the ground, leaving the hole open behind him.

"Isn't that the old guy we saw in your dream world?" Ox inquired. Mogu nodded.

"Yeah... Elder Dugron's the chief of our Clan. He was a slave in Scande, like almost everybody else... if we follow him, we'll find the rest of my Clan."

"And he said they're blowing this ice cube stand... good enough for me!" Karn grinned as they all moved towards the hole... all except Ryu. "Hey... boss, you coming?" No response. "Boss, we... we should go." Ryu remained silent.

"Ryu, please." Nina attempted. "I'm sorry. I know this... this is unimaginable. Impossible. But we need to get out of here... we have to, or we'll never be able to do anything about... that." Ryu gazed at her dully, then rose to his feet. Still silent, he followed the Wing Clan Princess down through the hole. The others followed. The tunnel was long and winding; eventually, they emerged in an underground cavern. Several hundred Mole Clanners were lounging around. Elder Dugron walked up to them almost immediately.

"Right, here you are. We'll lie low for just a few more minutes, and then we're going back to the slave site."

"You're joking!" Karn yelped. "Why are you going there? Won't you get caught again?"

"Not according to the one who freed us..." The Elder shook his head. "The one in the grey robes."

"Grey robes?" Ryu's head shot up. "What happened? Tell me!"

"This... person in grey robes came to our cells a few nights ago." Elder Dugron explained. "He... she... it released us and took us to a dirt area we could dig a hiding place in. Then... it told us that in a couple more days, Scande... would be deserted, that all the soldiers would leave it... flee. That we could escape when that happened. And it... was right. There are barely any soldiers left, and more are running every hour. Just a couple more, and we think we'll be able to successfully make a break for it."

"She... did that?" Ryu whispered to himself. "Why... but..." He sank down again, once more lost in his thoughts.

"Who knows anymore?" Bo sighed. "Who knows anything anymore?" The Elder shrugged, not really understanding.

"Who knows? But she was right, whoever she was. Come on... we're out of here." The Mole Clanners led the heroes through another tunnel to what was obviously an excavation site; discarded tools of various kinds were lying around everywhere. A door from there led outside to Scande. The heroes were a bit nervous about walking into the open at first, but they soon realized Elder Dugron was right. Scande, once the capital of the Dark Dragon Empire, had become a city of ghosts, abandoned and lifeless. For the most part; as they walked up into the fifth level, a lone soldier walked out from around a corner and stared at Ryu.

"Sir Ray? Is that you? What's up with your hair, sir? And are those the escaped slaves with you? What... something's up, isn't it, sir?" Ryu slowly looked at him. It was Johnny, the entrance guard they had met upon first entering the city. The others started to draw their weapons, but the Light Dragon waved them down.

"Johnny... why are you still here?" He asked, exhausted. Johnny shrugged.

"I'm wondering where everybody went. Me and my friends woke up, and we're alone here. You know what's going on, Sir Ray?"

"...Yeah." Ryu forced himself to nod. "Johnny... get out of here. Lo... Jade and his... the remaining Tiamat Unit... they're going to wake up Myria."

"Really?" Johnny's face fell. "Huh... well, I suppose it was gonna happen eventually. But... you know, me and some of the boys... we're not too sure it's the right thing to do. You know what I'm saying, right? Emperor Zog goes on and all that, but about all that stuff about the Dragon War... I dunno, Sir Ray."

"You're absolutely right, Johnny." Ryu nodded. "Zog is... WAS wrong. He's dead now, you know... Ryu the Light Dragon killed him. Jade's going to bring back the Goddess for reasons of his own... and I doubt those reasons will be in the best interests of his troops. Think about it, Johnny... what would be the first thing Myria would do, given free rein?" Johnny had gone white at the news of Zog's death, but now he looked thoughtful.

"I don't know... probably bring her fortress back up. That's Obelisk, you know, and it's-" His jaw dropped as it hit him. "Aw, LADON!"

"That's right. Right here." Ryu confirmed. "Get all your friends, Johnny... and anybody else still here... and get far, far away. That's what we're doing." Johnny nodded fervently.

"You don't have to tell me twice, Sir!" He started to go, then turned and stared at Ryu, as if suddenly seeing something he had been missing the entire time. He started to talk, then turned and ran.

"Boss..." Bo started, then stopped. Ryu chuckled humorlessly.

"I know... saving Dark Dragon lives? What's gotten into me, huh?" He shook his head. "People change... that much is true, all right. And... I can't exactly preach that Light Dragons are good and Dark Dragons are evil any more. Not after... that." He fell silent once more as they left town.

"So, where to now?" Gobi asked Elder Dugron.

"Back home, of course." The Mole Clan Elder explained. "We're returning to Gramor. What about you folks?" Bo glanced at Ryu, who said nothing, then shrugged.

"We're beat... we'll probably sack out at Carmen for now. After that... who knows." Elder Dugron nodded, choosing not to pursue the subject.

"Mogu... you're staying with them, right?" Mogu nodded. "Good. Help your friends out, you hear? We're all rooting for you, wherever you go." He shook Mogu's huge claw with his own ancient, leathered appendage, then turned and led his people off as Nina shifted and changed form. A moment later, everybody was gone as the last denizens of Scande began trickling out like so many ants fleeing a collapsed hill.

"Has he come out of his room yet?" Gobi asked. Bo shook his head.

"Not once." It had been a day since they had left Scande and returned to the inn in Carmen. Ever since they had arrived, Ryu hadn't emerged from his room. None of them had dared enter.

"He's just like he was when you disappeared, Nina." Mogu shook his head. "Except this time, there's nothing even he can do about this." Nina growled and pounded a table for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Why? I just keep running that question through my head. She's his older sister, for Ladon's sake, and from everything he's told me about his youth, she was practically a saint with him. What could have made her turn around that much?"

"Who knows?" Karn shrugged glumly. "Probably whatever Jade used to recruit the others. We've seen enough to figure out that he didn't definately didn't use any orthodox methods... Cort, Mote and Cerl all underwent severe personality changes around or shortly after the time of the Unit being formed. Most likely, Goda did too. The Gold Lord's been pulling strings for more than ten years. Here we all figured Zog was the one to watch out for, and he was just another dummy to draw our aim."

"And right now, they're running off to Agua to raise Myria." Deis growled. "We're not completely screwed... that teleportation spell isn't perfect. The farther away you have to go, the more it tires you out, and Agua's almost as far away from Scande as you can get. Plus, there's the matter of the force field... from Sara's little display back in the pit, she might be able to break it, but it'll take a while. Still... we can't stay here for much longer. If we want to catch them, we're going to need to leave soon."

"Easier said than done." Ox sighed. "We can't go without the boss, and if anybody has any ideas on how to get him out here, I'd like to hear them." Bo and Deis exchanged a glance.

"I think... there's only one way." Bo said cautiously. "Nina. You're our only hope." The Wing Clan Princess shook her head.

"I'm glad you have such faith in me, but I can't do anything. You saw... I was barely able to get him to move."

"So try harder." Deis told her impatiently. "You're the closest one to him... we're all friends, but we're not on the same level as Sara was. You're the only one of us who he cares for on THAT scale."

"Not quite." Nina denied. "I'm not... it's not that close. We're just... friends too. You know that." She closed her eyes. "He... got this way when I disappeared. I know. But... he knows this just like I do. The law... I'm the princess. He can't care for me more than a friend... and I can't do the same for him. We both know this. I can't do anything for him now, guys... I can't bring him out of this." Deis' eyes narrowed, and she glanced at Bo.

"Could you guys all go look and see how the rest of the town's doing? Make completely sure that they're recovered from the time freeze, check if there are many soldiers from Scande coming this way, that sort of thing?" Bo immediately took the hint.

"Yeah. Come on, guys." The males all went outside, leaving Deis and Nina alone.

"All right." The Sorceress of Wisdon snapped. "As I've said before, we're on a tight time limit here, so I'm going to be blunt and direct. You're behaving like an idiot." Nina's head shot up.

"Excuse me? And what do you mean by that?"

"You know exactly what I mean." Deis pressed. "Ryu's completely sunk into his misery, and you're acting like it's catching. You talk so much about knowing things and laws, like they're what really decide feelings... so much, you've forgotten about what happened at Tunlan when you rejoined us, haven't you?" Nina froze.

"Tunlan... I... but..."

"Yeah, I know." Deis made a rude noise. "Laws say you can't, rules say you can't. But the one thing you're NOT knowing... is that laws and facts don't mean a damn thing when it comes right down to it. You care about him. He cares about you. And you're NOT just friends. Bo knows this, I know this, we all know this. We saw it between you two as clear as day. Even when you two were having that spat, we knew it wouldn't last. You can worry about laws and rules all you want, but that won't change the pure truth."

"Pure truth...?" Nina asked, still a little behind. Deis nodded.

"He's in love with you, Nina." She said simply. "Despite everything you both 'know.' If you'd really pay attention, you could see it in his every action... the way he smiles at you, the way he always watches out for you in a fight, the way he always worries when you're in the way of trouble. Face the REAL facts; why do you REALLY think he only listened to you when you asked him to leave Scande with us? None of us would have been able to even make him move, no matter how hard we tried. Why do you think he was so broken down when you were lost? That's why. He loves you, plain and simple... and you love him too, don't you?" The last pieces of Nina's resistance crumbled.

"...Yes." She shook her head, silently crying. "Ladon help me... I love him. But... what do I do? What CAN I do?"

"You can go up there." Deis told her. "Right now, the man you're in love with is sitting alone, thinking of nothing but how he was betrayed by the person he had trusted the most throughout his entire life, long before he even met any of us. You can help him. Go up there... talk to him... listen to him. Let him know... you're going to help him. You can figure out all that stuff about laws and rules and your future another time, when you're both ready. Right now, though, the world needs Ryu... and Ryu needs you, Nina. Go to him."

"...Yes." Nina stood up and dried her eyes. "I will. Deis... thank you. For both of us." Turning, she walked up the stairs to Ryu's room. Slowly, she eased his door open. The Light Dragon was sitting in a chair facing the window, face completely blank.

"Nina." He said without turning around. "Can... I help you with something?"

"No... it's the other way around." Nina whispered. "Ryu, I'm... I'm here to... talk. And to listen. And... whatever else you need. I'm here, Ryu."

"I... Nina." Ryu shook his head. "You don't want to... it's not your problem. It's not your issue... not your... your sister who's done all this..."

"Ryu, your problems ARE my problems." Nina sat in a chair next to him. "Your issues... my issues. Anything... any time. I'll always be here, Ryu... always. Just... let me help."

"It..." Ryu tried to argue for a moment more, then gave in. "Nina, she... she was so different. She was my sister, and yet... her face, her voice were all different... somebody evil, somebody twisted... somebody from the Tiamat Unit. But it was still her, still Sara at the same time. How am I... why am I supposed to fight that? Fight... even kill my own sister? How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"She..." Nina scrambled for an answer. "I don't know, Ryu. But there's... look, there's no absolute answer. All the Tiamat Unit... returned to their old selves at the end, at least partially. And remember what you told me about Cerl? Miracles happen. Maybe... maybe we can still save her, Ryu." Ryu turned his head to stare at her incredulously.

"What happened to Cerl... Nina, do you really think... we might be able to?"

"Anything is possible." The Wing Clan Princess nodded. "She hasn't been a member of the Tiamat Unit for nearly as long as the others, after all. We've built our careers out of succeeding where nobody else could even come close. But if we stay here, Ryu... we'll never know. Deis thinks they can't have released Myria yet, but she says soon... and if they do, Ryu, that'll be the end for us. And for the world. We have to catch them... before that happens. We have to try."

"...Yeah." Ryu stood up. "We... gotta try. Anything... is possible." He turned to her. "Are the others all ready to go?" She nodded. "All right, then. And Nina... I've said this before, but... thank you." He turned and kissed her, and then he went outside. After a moment, Nina followed him.

"Right here..." Goda pointed at a place on the wall, then drew back his fist and delivered a battering-ram blow. The ancient stone collapsed explosively, revealing the staircase behind it. Jade nodded approvingly.

"Good, Black. We COULD find our way through this place like THEY did... but what would be the point? Waste of time... and the lower levels are unimportant." The three remaining member of the Tiamat Unit walked up the staircase to where Ryu, Nina and Bo had stopped at, where the King Key had been hidden. For them, a thick metal door had halted their progress. For Goda, however, it was just another obstruction to break down. Sara winced as the door went flying off its hinges and out of Agua, past the narrow ledge on the outside and off into the sky, down to earth.

"That's fairly noticable."

"And what we plan to do later today won't be?" Jade retorted as they walked around the outside of Agua. "So a few people near here might have an advance warning about what's going to happen. Give them more time to duck and cover. It's not like they can do anything... we all know who the only ones who can are." Goda growled low in his throat as they reentered and climbed the long, straight staircase that took them to the roof of the floating monolith. All three looked around, silently taking in what awaited them up there. Jade was the first to speak; he laughed.

"Just like we saw it, all those years ago... not so long ago for you, Silver."

"Yeah..." Sara brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Ah... do you have any idea what a relief it is not to have to wear that damned hood all the time anymore?"

"Mote always liked the style..." Goda rumbled. Sara nodded in agreement.

"Of course... he was the one who suggested it to me, remember? And it did the job... I'm just saying it was annoying for me. But nobody in Scande aside from us and Zog had the slightest idea that I was a Light Dragon... and none of Ryu's group knew me eithr Mote had the right idea."

"He usually did..." Goda sighed as the three of them entered the core, the topmost portion of Agua. The true secret. Ahead of them were two more of the monolith slabs that worked with the Goddess Keys. To the far left and right were staircases that went up to the second floor, each one to a room with two more slabs. The last staircase, in the back, would hold the seventh. This... was the true purpose of the Goddess Keys. The lock on the cage that imprisoned the Goddess Myria.

"Seven locks... seven Keys..." Jade sighed. "Three of us remaining. My greatest wish is that the others could see the entirety of it... and of course, by the time we can have our wishes granted, that one'll be past. Ladon's irony."

"You still have... the articles?" Goda inquired of Sara, who nodded and bent over on the floor.

"Yes. They're all here." Pulling them out of her sleeves, she placed them on the floor, one by one and side by side. A monocle of shining ruby... a purple scrap of cloth that had once been a concealing hood... a proud white cape, still lightly twitching in a breeze... and the cold metal crown of an Emperor. "Which shall we do first, my Gold Lord?"

"Hm..." Jade thought about it. "We'll probably want to have one of us who are still here to go first... get things off right."

"I'll volunteer." Goda rumbled. "I'll go first."

"All right..." Jade nodded. "Then we'll do one of the others... not Red, you'll need some time to recover after that before helping with your life force." Goda didn't argue.

"Let it be Blue." Sara nodded. "I'll use my life force to help him."

"All right, then our Emperor after him." Jade decided. "I'll use my own life force for him... then will you be able to take your own Key, Silver?"

"I'll manage." Sara promised.

"Good. Then you can have Red turn his, Black... then White. That one'll probably be the hardest, due to her... unique situation. We'll all have to chip in there. And then I'll turn the last one myself."

"Sounds like a plan." Goda agreed. "Give me the Key, then... and I'll start." Wordlessly, Sara reached into her sleeves again and pulled out the seven Goddess Keys. Taking the Earth Key, Goda turned and walked up the staircase on the left, with the other two following him. Choosing the monolith on the right in the small room, the Black Warrior took a moment to steady himself, then thrust the Earth Key home. It was like he had been plugged into a massive wall socket; Goda was immediately lit up with an unimaginable locus of intense energy. Gritting his teeth, he slowly began moving his wrist, not releasing the Key. Despite Goda's insane strength, he was only able to budge the Key less than a centimeter in one movement. After what seemed like an eternity, the Key clicked into place, and the energy rush vanished. As the monolith began glowing and pulsing, Goda slumped to the ground, breathing heavily.

"It's... even worse than I... saw..."

"That bad, eh?" Sara asked, concerned. Goda, bald head covered in sweat, shot her a smile that was a rarity these days.

"Remember what you said once about how the aftereffect from a newly-learned dragon transformation? I think I just found out what that feels like."

"Great..." Sara shook her head. "If that's the case, this might take longer than we thought..."

"No..." Goda struggled to his feet. "We're... not ordinary people. Few minutes... and I'll recover enough for Red."

"That's the spirit." Jade congratulated him. "Come on Silver, you and Blue are up." Descending the stairs, they picked up the Dark Key and Cort's monocle, then entered the other second-floor room. This time, Sara chose the monolith on the left.

"You ready?" Jade asked, and she shrugged.

"As ready as I'll ever be..." As Goda watched, the two of them laid the monocle and Key on the floor, and took up positions on either side of them. Closing their eyes, they began concentrating their combined magical power on the small disk of red crystal. Slowly, above it, a blue haze formed... a haze that solidified into an intangible, nearly transparent shape. A spirit. Cort, the Blue Alchemist, smiled at them with the same strange, cold humor he had possessed in life.

"Turn the Key, Blue." Jade told him. "Turn the Key... as your last duty to your Unit. We have called you back to fulfill your sworn task. Turn the Dark Key... and we'll let you go again." Cort nodded, bending over. Somehow picking up the Dark Key, he looked at it for a moment, then shrugged and inserted it into the monolith. Sara flinched as he slowly turned it. Once it had clicked, the Blue Alchemist waved and vanished. Sara slumped to the floor.

"Ladon and Myria..." She cursed. "Yeah... that's the feeling, all right. Thought I'd never get it again... more's the pity." Slowly, she stood again. "All... right. Next one." Returning downstairs, they placed the King Key and the crown in front of the leftmost slab. Again Jade and Sara cast the spell, and again a spirit appeared. Emperor Zog glared at Jade, who spoke anyways.

"I realize you are angry with me, my Emperor... but now, you must know that what we did was neccessary. Myria is close... we need you one more time, old friend. Turn the King Key, as is your right, my Emperor... and then we shall let you rest again." Zog scowled for a moment more, then turned and roughly jammed the King Key into the socket. Jade flinched as he turned it, then disappeared.

"THAT's a feeling I haven't had in ten years." Jade winced. "Honestly, I could have done without experiencing it again."

"Be glad you don't have to do another one already." Sara groaned, picking up the Queen Key. Inserting it in the monolith on the right, she screamed silently as the rush of power filled her, causing her to contort like a live wire. Slowly, the Key turned, and then she was free again, sobbing for breath.

"Red's turn..." Goda realized. "You... okay, Silver?"

"Once the floor stops moving, I will be." Sara answered. "It helps that I think about not actually having to contribute any force to the next one." After a few more moments, they took the hood and Sky Key up to the left staircase, left monolith. This time, Goda entered the ritual with the other two. Mote shimmered and appeared.

"Little brother..." Goda croaked. Mote nodded sadly. Without even being bidden, he took up the Sky Key and turned it, then vanished. Goda hit the floor hard. "Ladon... why..."

"White next..." Jade sighed. "This one'll be loads of fun."

"Me and Black'll give every scrap we have without killing ourselves." Silver promised. "You need to save all your strength for the Time Key."

"I'm still not happy about that." Goda complained as they switched sides again. "The Time Key should be White's... everything she did for it... even against ME, when I lost my head..."

"To be honest, I agree with you." Sara sighed. "But who are we to argue with visions of destiny? Light Key for White it is." Gathering around the monolith, Key and cape, they concentrated. This time, the spirit appeared much more slowly, as they each growled and cursed from the exertion. When it was fully formed, it was the adult White Assassin as they had all known her, not the little girl she had become... although in all their ears, dimly, they could barely hear a noise like a small child screaming in pain. Cerl gazed at them all without emotion, then turned the Light Key before vanishing as slowly as she had come. As soon as she was gone, the three of them collapsed on the floor together.

"Ugh... one left..." Jade was the first to rise. "Can... you two stand?"

"Barely..." Silver gasped.

"Good. Silver, watch the entrance... our guests may be arriving any moment now. Black, you're with me... I may need you to keep me from falling over halfway." Jade smirked. "We're at the end of it now, after all... no good ruining it at this point. One Key left... and the Goddess Myria returns. Let's go."

"There's Agua, up ahead!" Ryu yelled as the heroes flew towards the floating edifice at top speed.

"It's colossal..." Gobi, who like half of them had never seen it before, gasped. "How much magic does it take to keep that up..."

"I don't even want to know, and I only dabble in magic." Bo shook his head. "To think... Myria was sealed up there the entire time..."

"No, that's not where she's sealed." Deis shook her head. "All that's there is... well, to oversimplify it, Agua's the lock on her prison. The cage itself is the island of Pagoda, straight north... you can see it from here."

"That one with the two towers sticking out of it side by side?" Karn shaded his eyes. "One higher than the other?" The Sorceress of Wisdon nodded.

"That's the prison of the Goddess Myria... and the only way in is through the top of Agua."

"Wasn't there some sort of force field?" Ox asked. Ryu nodded and cursed.

"Yeah... damn! If it's down, they must already be inside! We've got to move, FAST!"

"Hey... Nina?" Mogu asked, sounding nervous. "Why... aren't we landing?" Nina didn't answer; her beak was incapable of speech at the moment. She continued flying forward... straight for Agua. Bo slammed his eyes shut.

"Oh, NOOOOOO!" Scarcely feet away from the gaping entrance, Nina reverted to her normal form, and their momentum carried the heroes forward and inside... and straight into a wall. After a moment, Gobi extricated himself, spitting out some gravel.

"Nina, what the HELL?" He demanded. Nina shook her wings off and shrugged.

"Well, Ryu said we had to get going fast..."

"There are some things you just DON'T DO, no matter WHAT the circumstances, Nina." Bo told her with a horrified expression still frozen on his face. "Don't ever, EVER even THINK of doing that. Ever again."

"Gotta admit, it was the best damned rush I've ever felt." Karn laughed, irrepressable as always. "Come on! Let's move! Lead the way, boss!" Ryu nodded, turned... then stopped.

"Wait. One thing first. Guys..." He turned back around, eyes shining. "We've... come a long way together. Done a hell of a lot, and let's face it... pissed off and blown up a lot of people. That's our job... it's what we do. Now, we're going to have finish what I set out to do from the beginning. We can't fail, not after coming this far. We have to stop Myria from being revived, guys... and that means we have to stop anybody who's trying to bring her back. ANYBODY, if we have to. Am I understood?"

"Boss..." Ox whispered. "Are you saying..."

"I'm saying we can't take personal feelings into account here." Ryu continued. "The entire damn world is on our backs now. We have to keep it up... no matter what we have to do. Is that clear, guys?" Everybody was silent for a moment, and then Bo spoke.

"Yeah, it's clear, boss... so, are we going to let those guys get even more of a head start, or are we going to move?" Ryu grinned mirthlessly.

"Let's motor!" Running up the stairs, they soon discovered visible proof of the Tiamat Unit's passage; all walls between them and the stairs to the next floor had been simply bashed down.

"Goda's handiwork." Ox judged. "Just hope he doesn't bring the whole place down on us..." They quickly rose to the fifth floor, where Wisp had guarded the King Key. Before, a locked door there had forced them to turn back. Now, it was bashed down like the walls. Beyond it was a natural balcony; a grass-covered ledge on the OUTSIDE of the flying edifice. As they cautiously walked out, Bo and Mogu groaned, but said nothing of the ground miles below them. From there, it was back indoors for the next staircase; a long, but straight one they could see sunlight shining from the top of. Running up as fast as they could manage, single file, the heroes piled out onto the top of Agua. It was like the Dragon Shrines must have been in their days of glory. A perfectly flat ring of grassy land surrounded a lake that was undoubtably Water of Life, also perfectly round. In the center of this lake was a thin, cross-shaped structure of black stone. On the south end were the stairs they had come from; west and east, a pair of marble dragon statues stood silent guard for eternity, their jeweled eyes glittering. The eyes of one were emeralds, the other amethysts; green and purple. And at the north end was a structure much like the mighty third Dragon Shrine, with one key difference. This shrine was untouched by age; the spires still loomed, the structure was sturdy and the white marble gleamed in the sunlight. Unfortunately, the heroes had no time to take in the beauty of this; they rushed forward and into the Shrine.

Sara was waiting for him.

"Too late, Ryu." The Silver Priestess smiled sweetly. "Glad you showed up, little brother, but you took too long. Six of the Goddess Keys have already been turned, and at this moment, Lord Jade himself is attending to the seventh."

"But how?" Deis gasped. "Seven Keys, seven people... you, him and Goda... who turned the other four Keys?"

"You have to ask?" Sara raised an eyebrow. "I think it should be obvious. Blue, Red and White... or, to you, Cort, Mote and Cerl. And of course our beloved and mighty Emperor Zog." Nina started to protest, and then her eyes narrowed.

"...So that's it... that's why you were playing the undertaker."

"You lost me on that one." Gobi admitted.

"Magic... something she and Jade did." Nina growled. "The bodies... they summoned the souls back into them for a brief period, so they could turn the Keys."

"Ooh... close. We actually didn't even think of using the bodies... clever idea, there." Sara admitted. "What we ended up using was an artifact... something each of them held dear. That, and their affinity to us that remained even after death, was enough to call them forth... with Ladon's blessing." Ryu ignored the now-familiar jab at the Dragon God, thinking of something else.

"But Cerl... she's not dead. How could you..."

"Cerl... White is a very interesting case." Sara explained studiously. "The Time Key, through Ladon's infinite mercy, returned her to a prior state... that of only a few years of age, along with Alan. However, the setback was not complete, as you may have noticed... she remembers much better than he does. Despite being cleansed overtly, deep inside her the White Assassin still sleeps... or slept, I should say. Our ritual brought it out... seperated it from the little girl, and brought it here." She smirked. "It probably hurt a great deal... but in the long run, she'll be better off, both of her. The little girl can be free completely of her past now, and the White Assassin can rest for good." Ryu shook his head, amazed.

"Sister... what have you become? How did Jade do this to you? Please... at least tell me that much now." Sara started to retort, then stopped, narrowing her eyes and looking closely at him.

"Brother... you HAVE thought this out, haven't you? I was wondering..." Her eyes grew distant. "Jade... at first I resisted, naturally. I wanted nothing to do with him, or his Unit. Then we reached Scande, and together... the five of them... they showed me." Suddenly, all of the heroes had their minds confronted with an image; the five senior members of the Tiamat Unit, sitting around a table with the lost, beaten Priestess from Drogen. Talking, doing nothing but talking... and her, unable to stop listening, unable to look away.

"What did they tell you... show you?" Deis pressed. Sara sighed.

"They told me the truth." The image disappeared. "They all knew me on sight... Jade when he first came to Drogen, the others before being introduced. They knew me... because even ten years ago, they had seen that I would join them, be the sixth and final member of their Unit. They saw that, and much more... and as they talked, I saw it as well. It was true... all of it. There was no doubt in my mind about it... everything they told me would take place. I knew what would happen... what will happen after this."

"And what is going to happen?" Nina asked coldly. "You 'know' that you will resurrect Myria? Is that it?" Sara seemed to recover from the semi-trancelike state she had been.

"That is not for me to say. But I've changed... I'm not who I once was, little brother. Just as you aren't."

"And do you hate me now, Sara?" Ryu asked softly. Sara looked him in the eyes, and seemed to deflate.

"Ryu, I... damn it, why did you have to ask that. No... I still love you, little bro. But... we're enemies now. And neither of us can change that. I know what you're thinking... about White... but I will not take that path. I refuse... I will die for my Unit, if need be."

"Sara... you can't tell us the truth?" Ryu pleaded. "Any more of it... or of what's going to happen?" Sara nodded grimly. "Then... do you intend to keep us here? Hold us back while Jade finishes?" Sara started to speak, then froze.

"I... wait. It... come with me. All of you, now. You need to see this. But... brother." She looked into Ryu's eyes. "First, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything." Ryu whispered. Sara looked at Nina for a moment, her gaze inscrutable, then returned to Ryu.

"I need you to promise me... that you'll stop Lord Jade. That you'll do everything in your power to stop him before he succeeds, Ryu. Him, and everybody with him."

"I... can't promise that, Sara." Ryu shook. Sara's eyes became flat.

"Then I will destroy you here, all of you, myself, before you can interfere. In this holy place, as a Priestess, my powers are astronomical. Like when Black was berserking, you cannot win if you fight me here and now. Promise me, Ryu. It's the only way."

"I..." Ryu bowed his head, eyes streaming. "Damn it... I promise, Sara." She looked at him, face blank.

"You lie." She said, emotionless. "You're not ready... not yet. You disappoint me, brother. But yet... you're close. Much closer than you were at Scande. Maybe when the time actually comes... very well. This way." She led them towards the back, past a pair of stone monolith-machines. Each was pulsing, and in them, the King Key and Queen Key pulsed. To the left and right were staircases leading up, and a third one was at the back. It was up this one that Sara led them. They emerged on a blood-red brick path, surrounded on all sides but forward by a the starry void of space. Ahead of them, the Gold Lord was facing a seventh stone slab, the Time Key in his hands and the Black Warrior at his side. As they rushed forward, he turned around, smiling broadly. The monolith glowed, pulsed and sank down into the ground, disappearing. The entire structure began rumbling in time with the pulsing of what was behind the slab; a huge, crystalline heart, glowing with a mystical green light. It was built onto a icy blue pedestal with smaller pink orbs at intervals around it. Deis hissed.

"The lock...!"

"Yes, and the Keys have all been turned." Jade gloated, wiping sweat from his forehead as Sara walked forward to join him and Goda. "You're all just a bit too late. She has been released."

"No...!" Nina whispered. "We can't have failed... not yet?"

"Not yet." Deis echoed. "One chance left. If we can stop them from actually getting to her, inside Pagoda..."

"Not happening." Goda growled. "Let's settle this right here!"

"Like the lady said... not yet." Sara shook her head. "You know that, Black. Come on, milord... shall we get going?"

"We shall." Jade grinned at them, exhausted but triumphant. "We now go to meet the Goddess, Myria. Follow if you dare... and you do. Come, Ryu... come, all of you. The final act is still going strong." The three of them shimmered and vanished. Deis spun.

"Come on! Everybody get over here! I'll teleport us too!"

"You still know what Pagoda looks like, even now?" Gobi asked. The legendary Sorceress snorted mirthlessly.

"I'll remember that place if I live ten thousand more years... and aside from what they just did, Pagoda doesn't change, ever. Literally. Here we go!"

"DON'T dive-bomb into the entrance!" Bo pleaded as they zeroed in on Pagoda. The twin towers had risen to double their previous height, and the entire island was glowing with an unholy light. More noticable, however, were the dark clouds of mist that were pouring out of a small portal at the base of the taller, westmost tower. These clouds were quickly rising to obscure the sky, and were spreading with the apparent intention to do so all over the world. The implications were obvious; they were a signal. Myria had returned.

"What happens if we get rid of the bad guys now?" Ryu demanded of Deis as Nina swooped in for a landing on the island. "Won't she still be free?"

"She can't actually emerge from Pagoda until the ones who turned the Keys bring her out." Deis explained. "If that doesn't happen, once they're toast, we can go up there and turn those things back the other way." She climbed off Nina onto the island, like the rest of them, and the Princess reverted.

"Only problem is, they've got a head start on us." She growled. "So let's move already!"

"Just a second." Karn instucted, performing the Doof spell. "Right... let's knock this place over!" The heroes rushed inside, Deis guiding them.

"Step on the switch in the back right... okay, now up the stairs!" The Sorceress of Wisdon instructed. "Now we cross over to the east tower. Watch out for the purple tiles here, they're slippery and if you fall over the edge it'll be a nasty landing below. Let's just take the stairs down... right, then come back up over there and go to the third floor. That's the top one on this tower."

"You remember this place well, considering how long it's been since the last time you visited." Mogu noticed. Deis shook her head.

"Not just visited... I watched it being built, stone by stone. That leaves an impression on you. Hello, what's this?" The third floor, the top of the east tower, was a single small room. The only thing noticable was what was between them and the door back to the west tower. A shimmering force field. Nina tentatively tapped it with one finger, then hissed as she pulled it back instantly.

"Ow! Damn... like touching molten lava..."

"That's the idea, Princess of the Wing Clan." Sara informed them as she appeared, walking in the doorway behind the shield. "A simple blocking shield isn't enough... no, mine have much more bite."

"Sara..." Ryu growled, hand on his sword. The Silver Priestess nodded.

"Little brother. You made better time than we expected... which is why Lord Jade told me to wait here and delay you. There are other reasons too, of course, but those are no business of yours."

"You people keep saying that... and I keep caring less and less." Ryu bluffed. "Stand down, sister... we're coming through."

"Nice try, Ryu." Sara scoffed. "Even if you WERE able to strike me down, you'll never be able to penetrate this shield. You couldn't touch me even if you wanted to. All you can do is sit back and wait for Lord Jade and Myria to take the world." Ryu seemed to shrink for a moment... and then his eyes darkened.

"Don't be too sure about that, sister." Before anybody could stop him, the Light Dragon hero blasted forward into motion. Sword drawn, he hurled himself into the force field like a bat out of hell. All of them, even Sara stared at his insane charge. The force field crackled at his touch, flashing as he lurched forward. The pain was incredible, and yet he continued moving, his face a snarl of unbearable, intolerable rage. Step by step, each one like a mile, he neared his sister. The others tried to help him, but they were forced back by the shield. Only Ryu continued towards the Silver Priestess. A step... another step... and then he stumbled forward, through it. Sara drew back a few paces, eyes wide, and with an enraged howl he continued forward, charging like a bull at his sister with his sword waving. At the last second, Sara's expression of fear changed to cockiness, and she drew a sword of her own, lighter and slimmer like Nina's rapier. Their blades clashed, and both leaped back. Again they moved forward, swords glinting in the few traces of light not yet covered by the dark clouds pouring forth from Pagoda. Neither of them scored an actual hit; they simply stood there, weapons clanging off of each other for a few minutes. Then they jumped back and took a moment to catch their breath.

"You HAVE changed, brother!" Sara gloated. "Are you then ready to finish me off, when it comes to that? I make no pretenses at being better at this than you... Lord Jade has given me some training, but it's nothing compared to you." Nina nodded in agreement; it was plainly visible that Sara would tire long before Ryu did. Ryu glared at his sister.

"Drop it, Sara. You can't win. Just give up and let us past." Sara's smile vanished.

"You idiot! You still can't do it!" She shrieked. "Idiot brother, would you surrender to let an enemy have a clear shot at your friends? At your team? My loyalty to the Tiamat Unit is absolute!"

"Even more so than your loyalty to me?" Ryu asked softly. Sara started to respond bitterly, then stopped.

"I... Ryu..." The sword dropped, and so did she, burying her face in her hands. "Damn it, Ryu... now I know why Cerl gave in the way she did. You just can't accept things, can you... you'll never let things lie." She shot him an angry glance from eyes filled with tears. "Not even if it means being far crueler than just killing me outright would be. But you can't do that, can you?" Nina's temper flared.

"Damn it, he's trying to save you!" She yelled. "Can't you get it? You're his sister! Of course he can't just kill you! How cruel, then, the one who tries to force HIM to do that?" Sara stared at her. "You heard me! Before you start being so hard on him, think about what YOU'RE doing to your brother!"  
"...Not just Ryu..." Sara whispered to herself in apparent realization of something. "All of them... steel, in every one... that's my mistake..." She rose to her feet. "All right... I'll remove the shield." Ryu stared at her.

"Sara..."

"Quiet, brother." She said, businesslike. "I need to concentrate... this won't be easy." She held up her hands and strode forward into the force field. Her face contorted in a silent scream as the barrier of light shimmered, then began disappearing into her palms as if being pulled in by an intense vacuum. When the last of it was gone, she collaped, face an ashen grey.

"Hey, hey!" Doof yelled. "You okay?"

"No... and neither are any of you." Sara smirked. "Everybody... come here. Let me... take care of this..." Somewhat dubiously, they all clustered around Sara. She concentrated, and silver sparkles of a healing spell poured out from her over them all. Nina gasped as all the pain from the force field disappeared.

"White magic... this strong?"

"Of course... I am the Silver Priestess, after all." Sara stood. "And you're getting close to that level too, Wing Clan Princess... you could probably cast this spell if you put your mind to it." She turned to Ryu. "Not much time left, brother... Lord Jade and Black will have Myria soon."

"Sara... are you... you again?" Ryu asked. She closed her eyes.

"No, brother... I'm not. I'll never be the same Sara as before... it's too late for that. I don't know if it was a spell... or simply the truth... but what Jade did, he did to all of us... and once he does, you're Tiamat Unit forever. It's not a matter of choice... you just ARE. Right now, though... I'm feeling my past. Like Blue, Red and White did before their ends... so much for our motto, I guess." She paused, then continued, eyes penetrating all of them. "Look, Ryu... I just need to tell you. While I still can... this may be my last chance to do so. Ryu... I love you, little bro. And I always will, no matter what happens. And whatever DOES happen... never think it was your fault, brother. It's not... not any of ours. None of us could do anything about this... it was all decided long ago. Remember that always, little brother."

"I will." Ryu promised, turning to go... only to discover another force field in place, in the doorway leading to the west tower. Whirling around, he saw Sara's eyes begin to glow, and he gasped in horrified realization. "NO! SARA, DON'T!"

"Ryu..." Sara whispered as she began to transform. "I know now... that you will do whatever it takes... to save the world. Forgive me, Ryu..." She threw back her head and howled as her skin became scales, white as snow but harder than steel. Her hands and feet became fierce claws, the hind ones much larger than the fore. The wings were a vibrant pink, as were the plates on her front. Her tail and neck were both longer than her torso, which was large and wide. Her head was almost ridiculously small, triangular with a bluntly pointed muzzle, but the eyes set in it below swept-back horns glowed with green fire. "STAY WITH ME, BROTHER!"

"SARAAAAA!" Ryu screamed as he transformed himself, becoming the mighty Rudra, smaller than Sara's deadly Light Dragon form but more fierce... more threatening. The two dragons walked forward and squared off, staring at each other. And then, on some unspoken signal, they took to the air. The others started to rush forward, then stopped. Deis was in their path, her staff raised to bar their way. To their astonishment, they saw that the Sorceress, normally one of the toughest of the group, had upon her face an expression of utmost compassion mixed with resolve.

"Nuh-UH. This is his fight... and his alone. If any of us interfere, we'll not only get taken down a hell of a lot more easier by her, it'll make it even harder for him."

"But we can't just watch!" Gobi protested. Deis shot him a withering glare.

"Put yourself in his place... if you had a sister, and you had no choice but to kill her... would you want anybody helping you do it? I know what you're all thinking, but this is the only way. Don't make this any harder for Ryu than it already has to be." One by one, they lowered their weapons and watched, silently, as the two Light Dragons flew above in a dance of death.

"Not like most of us could reach her up there anyways..." Mogu commented. It was true; the combatants were out of reach of the ground, and remaining so. Ryu was the smaller, faster fighter, darting around Sara to strike and retreat with his energy blasts and the mouth full of horrible fangs. Sara was slower, but the hits she did succeed in were more telling. She used both her velociraptor-like hind claws and her own breath weapon, a stream of golden light, with devastating effect; each hit she landed sent Ryu flying, sometimes into a wall. And each time, he came back gamely and struck at her flank to even the score. Before long, dragon blood was dripping like rain, and neither of them gave up. With unthinking, animal rage they continued on, striking at each other endlessly.  
"Can Ryu handle this by himself?" Nina whispered. "If he had tried this on Zog, he'd be dead already..."

"Zog was a freak." Deis told her, still barring her from the fight. "I don't know if it was something in the royal bloodline or what, but that's not the case here. Ryu's had his Rudra form for far less time than his older sister's had that beast up there... and he's still coming out ahead. Sara looks like a brute, but in the long run, she won't be able to keep up."

"But none of his hits are really doing anything!" Doof yelled. "Look! No matter how many wounds he opens up, none of them are finishing it!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Deis told him. "He's aiming for her torso... where all the blubber is. She's thick down there... there's no way he's hitting an organ, and he knows it."

"You mean...?" The huge Fusion realized, horrified. Deis nodded grimly.

"That's right... he's still not trying to kill her. His form has no visible weak points... but if that neck of hers... no. He could finish this... but he's not. It won't be too long, though... all that weight on Sara will drag her down even more pretty soon, and she'll figure it out. Then..." She shook her head. "Who knows." Above, in the air, Sara was doing just as the sorceress had predicted.

"_Little brother... what are you doing?_" She hissed. "_Stop playing around!_"

"I'm not..." Ryu growled. "You can't beat me, Sara... you're going down!"

"_STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!_" Sara screamed in sudden fury, calling forth the terrible web of light that Zog had almost struck the heroes down with. Ryu reeled, and she pressed forward, slamming her bulk into him. "_As long as you hold back, Ryu, you'l never do it! You'll never be able to stop me... any of us! You'll LOSE, Ryu! The world will lose!_"

"Ladon damn it, Sara..." Ryu struggled out and blasted her tail. "Stop... stop this already!"  
"_Finish it, Ryu!_" She struck him in the face with her tail. "_Only one way, little brother! If you can't, I'll kill you... and all your friends!_" Ryu froze. At that moment, although she could not hear it, Nina could not hold back any longer.

"Damn it... he'll die if we leave him! I'm sorry, Ryu!" Deis dived forward, but Nina was already in the air, transforming into the Great Bird. Sara jerked back in surprise as the mighty raptor slammed into her, knocking her away from the Rudra. Sara fell back, apparently stunned, and Nina dived.

"Nina, NO!" Ryu yelled, blasting down as well.  
"_Too late, brother!_" Sara gloated, snapping her head forward towards the bird. "_Your hesitance has cost you... she tried to do it for you, and for that, she dies!_" The Light Dragon's jaws were insignificant to the Rudra, but to a bird, even one of Nina's size... there would be only one result. Too late, Nina tried to pull back, but the Light Dragon's jaws gaped in triumph... and then they froze. Sara froze, unmoving... and then her head turned around on the long, flexible neck to glance at Ryu's jaws, each and every tooth clamped, buried in the base of said neck. Sara's own jaws closed, and then twitched upward, smiling... and then she fell from the sky, her lifeless wings unable to support her. Ryu clung to her limply, unmoving as well, as she hit the ground, ripping up the floorstones as she skidded before thudding into the wall. Nina landed next to them, and the three of them shrank, each assuming their humanlike forms.

"Nina... was it?" Sara gasped, smiling. "You... did it. I knew... one of you would." Nina gasped.

"What?"

"The... only way." The Silver Priestess explained, even as the air above her began shimmering. "Ryu would... do it... if it was to save... you. Don't... blame her, Ryu... it had to... happen. Isn't... that right?" The question was directed at the person who had just appeared, who was standing over her.

"That's right." Ladon nodded, bending over and picking her up, as she had each of the Tiamat Unit. "I'm sorry."

"Don't... be." Sara shook her head. "I'm... happy. Now I know... you can do it, Ryu. And Nina... and all of you. Don't... grieve over me, Ryu. You did... the right thing." Silently, Ryu came forward and kissed her once. "Good... bye." Ladon and Sara shimmered, and then both were gone, like they had never been there. All that remained was an emerald pendant... Sara's, the one that was worn by all Priests of Ladon. Ryu picked it up and held it, head bowed.

"Ryu..." Nina whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"You didn't do anything." Ryu's voice was flat. His grip on the pendant tightened. "She was right. All along, she was right. It wasn't your fault... or mine... or even hers. No..." His head snapped up, and they all took a step back. His eyes were glowing, and his face was an insane snarl. "There's only one... maybe two, I don't know yet. But one will do. JADE." Ignoring his fatigue, he turned and tore off towards the west tower. After a moment of startled hesitation, the others followed him. Heedless of anything in his path, he blasted forward, ripping through anything between him and the way onward. And then, they were standing in a starry void, and just ahead of them were two figures with their backs turned. They stood in front of a massively ornamented podium, with energy bolts crackling around them. Jade and Goda. Howling, Ryu charged for the Gold Lord. He didn't even get close. Before he was even five feet away, an invisible pressure shoved him back.

"Almost, Ryu. Almost." Jade said without turning. "You were very close. What took you so long, anyways?" Now he turned, and in his arms was a small child... a beautiful girl in a blue dress and long golden hair. She looked them over with eerie, knowing eyes and Deis hissed with recognition.

"Myria!"

"Deis." The Goddess returned coolly. "It's been a while... far too long for my tastes. And these are the ones this time around, are they? They look interesting... more so than the last batch." She looked up at the Gold Lord. "Are they interesting, Lord Jade?"

"Indeed they are." Jade agreed. "Ryu here just killed his own sister, for one... one of ours, but still..."

"What fun!" Myria clapped her hands gleefully. "A Light Dragon too, was she?"

"A strong one... loyal and intelligent. We shall not forget her." Jade nodded, then smirked at Ryu. "And it seems she gave Ryu here quite a tough time... if he had been able to kill her sooner, he would have caught us before we found you."

"Pooh!" Myria stuck her tongue out at the heroes. "Go away. I don't like you... you're too much like the people who sealed me away."

"Do you really think that's going to work on us?" Deis asked scornfully. "Why don't you show us all-and your new friends-what you really look like? I'm sure they'll all be very impressed."

"Seen it, great lady, as a matter of fact." Jade yawned. "I do have to ask, though... why aren't the rest of you talking? You're unusually quiet... has the gravity of this situation got you down?" The heroes remained silent, staring at him... all save, Ryu, who glared at Jade with unrelenting hatred even now.

"I'm going to kill you." He said it simply, then grew more agitated. "I'll kill you... I'll kill you! You're dead, Jade, dead! I'll rip you to shreds, you hear me! I'LL KILL YOU!" Jade stared for a moment, and then he, Goda and Myria all threw their heads back and laughed.

"Oh, Ryu! Such hatred for me... I didn't expect it to be that strong! Now you know how Goda feels about you!" Goda fell silent at that, but Jade continued. "While I admire the sentiment, Ryu, you're not exactly in a position to start lobbing around threats. The Goddess Myria has been released... and she is mine." Streams of brightly colored light surrounded the Gold Lord and combined into a nimbus of power as he floated into the air, the other two along with him. Everything was suffused with a golden hue. "I am all-powerful... I am invincible... I am immortal. In short..." His eyes narrowed. "I... WIN." Myria laughed.

"Hee hee hee! Can I kill them now, Gold Lord?"

"Give it your best shot." Jade offered. Myria smiled, and the golden hue solidified, becoming a stream of energy that blasted forward. The last thing they saw was an unimaginably bright light. The last thing they felt was intense, searing pain.

And the last thing they heard was the triumphant laughter of the Gold Lord.


	20. Chapter 19: Heart Of Fire

**__**

Chapter 19: Heart Of Fire

Ryu was playing cards. Dragon Poker. Normally the rules didn't allow this many players, but they had all agreed to forget that part of it. All of them were the types of people who made their livings by conveniently forgetting the rules.

"I'll see you... and raise you fifty." Cort smiled, lighting his cigar. Bo choked, either on the smoke or on the number.

"Fifty? You're insane!"

"If you don't like it, fold. Sounds fun to me." Karn grinned. "I'll see it."

"Same here." Mote agreed, snickering. "Come on, Mogu, you're still in it too, right? The young guys gotta stick together..."

"I suppose." Mogu nodded uncertainly. "What about you, Ox?" The big Builder Clanner sighed heavily and tossed his cards down.

"Sorry... I'm folding. It's not my night, I guess."

"Looks like all your luck's gone to me." Gobi rubbed his hands together. "I'm still in the game!" Cerl rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised by this. I'll bow out, thanks... bit of a risk."

"Where's your spirit of adventure?" Deis laughed scornfully. "I'm riding with it."

"You always do." Nina sighed. "So, when are the others getting here?"

"Fairly soon now." Zog rumbled, scanning his hand. "We'll be dealing them in before long, if the game's still going then."

"Oh, it will be." Uncle Specs assured him. "The game's been going strong since I was your age. Er... are you my grandson?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." The old transient muttered. Ryu blinked, not really at ease with his surroundings.

"Are... we supposed to be here?"

"Not really." Sara admitted. "Close, but not quite... it's about time you and your friends left, actually. There are things you still have to do." Ryu nodded.

"Shame, really... this is kind of a nice place."

"I've always liked it." Ladon agreed. "But it's not the place for you." Ryu nodded and stood, along with the rest of his team.  
"Well, we'll be along then... see you all later." Suddenly, Sara's hand shot out, grabbing his wrist urgently.

"Wait! Don't leave us, Ryu! Wake up!"

"Sara...?" Ryu mumbled as the room swam around him and grew dark... and then he opened his eyes.

"Wake up, Ryu! Please, don't leave us now..." The old woman sobbed. He was lying on his back in a room he had seen a million times... a room he had grown up in.

"Grandma...?"

"Ryu!" Esma smiled through her tears. "You are alive... thank Ladon!"

"What... what am I doing back here?" Ryu wondered. "The others... where are they?" Somebody else approached. It was Theo.

"They're all fine, grandson." The old man harrumphed. "It was... bizzarre. One night, I had the strangest dream... Sara came to see me. She had friends with her... a man with blue skin, a small child in robes, a beautiful woman with golden hair and a fierce-looking man in black armor. Sara told me to take care of you, and your friends... and then I woke up and walked outside, and the eight of you were lying there on the lawn, unconscious and wounded. They're all fine, but... we didn't think you were going to make it, Ryu."

"By all rights, I shouldn't have..." Ryu agreed thoughtfully. "Sara... how did she..."

"Even now, she protects you." Esma said quietly. "Ryu... we know Sara's dead." Ryu didn't respond. "Your friends told us everything... they've been worried sick about you. Especially the Wing Clan girl..."

"Nina..." Ryu whispered.

"Hello?" Nina knocked on the door before entering. "Is... oh..." Her jaw dropped. "RYU! You're back!" She rushed over and hugged him without thinking. "You've been out for three days... I thought... Ryu..."

"Don't worry." Ryu smiled. "It takes more than that to finish me off. Everybody else is alive, then?"

"We're all fine." Nina confirmed as she released him. "Sara... she and the others somehow saved us all. Ladon's help...? None of us know how... let alone why they did, instead of letting those three finish us off."

"Those three..." Ryu muttered. "Jade... what has he been doing?" Nina's face was grim.

"Ryu, he..."

"Hey, Nina, you in here? We got a red alert!" Karn yelled, bursting in. "That damn thing's headed this way at full throttle!"

"What thing?" Ryu demanded, standing up. Karn blinked.

"Huh? Boss! You're awake... it's Obelisk, boss! They've resurrected Obelisk!" Ryu said something that made his grandparents frown.

"Myria's flying fortress?"

"That's the one." Nina nodded grimly. "They've been parading it through the sky all over the world ever since we came to. Scande's nothing but a hole in the ground... the whole world knows what's going on now. You say it's coming this way, Karn?"

"No mistaking it." Karn confirmed grimly. Ryu ran for the door, with the others following. Once outside, he looked into the sky grimly. Over the ocean to the south, hovering like a specter of death, was the flying fortress, Obelisk. It was half-spherical, like a ship, with an apparently flattened top; from below, they couldn't see what was up there. Its passage was slow but sure; nothing could stop it.

"Jade..." Ryu hissed. At that moment, inexplicably, Obelisk stopped moving forward. It hovered in the air for a few moments, then turned west, away from Drogen.

"No way..." Nina whispered. "How... did he..."

"He knew." Ryu confirmed grimly. "He didn't come this way to blast Drogen... he came here because he knew I was waking up and he wanted to make sure I saw that. In other words, the Gold Lord just threw down the gauntlet."

"So what are we going to do, boss?" Karn asked. "I'll be honest... we're starting to wonder here. Nina's been keeping us together for the past few days, but... you know, the Tiamat Unit were one thing, but an actual GODDESS?"

"It's okay, Karn." Ryu smiled strangely. "I've got a plan. What time is it?"

"Almost sundown." Nina answered. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Ryu turned to go back inside. "It's too late tonight... I'll tell you all the plan tomorrow."

The others in the group were similarly overjoyed to see Ryu back on his feet. Over dinner, they chatted as normal, but behind their words the Light Dragon could sense a tenseness. Something had changed, and they all knew it, even if none of them said it aloud. Several times they tried to get Ryu to tell them his plan, but he steadfastly refused, insisting that they would know tomorrow. Finally, they turned in. The people of Drogen had been rebuilding in Ryu's abscence, and there were enough spare beds for them all. But Ryu did not go to sleep. He waited several hours in his bed, then silently slipped outside. Nobody saw him.

"I'm sorry, guys... but you've done more than enough." He whispered as he sneaked out of town. "I can't ask you for any more... not now." Once he was well clear, he transformed into the Rudra Dragon and took off into the sky. Nina's prediction about this form was right; he was able to rise as high as her Great Bird could easily. He soon spotted Obelisk; even miles away and in the dark of night, there was no mistaking the flying fortress. Now he could see the top of it; it was almost a city unto itself, with ancient buildings rising from the flat surface. Like Wisdon, however, it was all uninhabited and in ruins from the effects of time. One spot near the front caught his eye; a strip that was long, narrow and flat, leading into a small building-the only one that was still in any shape to be entered, actually. It was obviously meant for landings from the air, and Ryu used it for exactly that purpose. Taking a moment to check that there were no guards of any type watching him, he walked into the building. Inside, there were two of the glass teleporter orbs he had seen early on in his adventure; however, one of them was shattered and the other was dull, inactive. Beyond them was a square of earth. Ryu shook his head and muttered a mild oath.

"Damn... and this was the only way in I saw. Maybe if I look around, I'll find a weak point..."

"Not happening." A voice in the entryway behind him disagreed. "Jade may have issued a challenge, but he's not going to make things easy for you, either. This is the only way we'll get inside." Ryu turned to see Nina standing in the moonlight, the others lined up behind her. Before he could say anything, she stomped up to him and did something a casual bystander would judge as suicidal, considering Ryu's present form. She belted him one right between the eyes. Ryu's head swung back, not really hurt but surprised nonetheless.

"Nina, what..."

"Don't give me that, you idiot." She snapped. "A plan. Right. You call this a plan? Flying off by yourself and getting killed? Maybe you could take Goda by yourself, but not Jade... and sure as hell not Myria!"

"I couldn't ask you guys..." Ryu muttered, looking away. "Not for this. Like Karn said, the Tiamat Unit are one thing, but an actual Goddess like Myria... how was I supposed to tell you guys to go up against that? It'd be suicide any way you look at it... but I thought I might at least be able to take them down with me, and this way I'm the only one whose life is in danger..." Nina struck him again, but with much less force this time.

"You fool..." She whispered. "You never even considered what WE would think of that plan... did you? How do you think we'd feel if you died like that, without us doing a thing to try and help you?" Ryu blinked, startled, as the others came closer, faces resolute.

"Boss, I'll admit. The enemy is very powerful... even moreso than before, with Myria's backing them." Bo assessed gravely. "It might not look very good for us..." The Forest Archer's mouth curved upward. "But hell, when has it ever? By all rights we should have gotten our brains beaten out months ago... but we didn't. We stayed alive through five invasion attempts, three encounters with the Tiamat Unit, and an assault on Scande itself. What's one more risky venture?"

"That's what we do." Ox agreed. "It's what we've always done ever since we joined up with you, boss. And we're doing it for a reason. I've got a wife down there, and a kid on the way... you think I want them living in a world ruled by Jade and Myria? I'm ready to risk everything I've got for them. We're the only hope for the future our planet has... I'm not holding back."

"We started this... you were alone at first, but we all joined in for the entire effort, boss." Mogu said firmly. "We have to finish it all together too... it's become our responsibility. Our Clans, our people... all of them, and everybody else... they're counting on us. We can't let them down."

"And that's not all... this is personal, boss." Karn reminded him. "For all of us. Jade screwed with you most of all, I know, but that doesn't change the fact that each and every one of us wants a piece of him... and Goda, too. Those chumps went out of their way to make us their enemies, and the others in the Unit learned the error of that... like we're going to let those two get off with just you gunning for them? Not likely, bossman... not even close."

"They've all got points... and believe me, I know." Deis smirked. "I'm sort of an expert on these things... after all of the ones I've sat through, this is a doozy of a finale. And there's no way in hell I'm missing out on it. I woke up from my hibernation to join in the effort here, and I'm seeing it through to the end whether you like it or not, boss." There was a moment of silence, and then everybody looked at Gobi, who closed his eyes and chuckled.

"You know... less than a year ago, I thought there was nothing that was worth risking getting killed over. You could always just beat it and set up somewhere else. Now, though... I'm probably insane, but I'm not bowing out of this either. And it's not just because of the loan, before anybody makes any wisecracks. I'm with you to the end, boss."

"What they're trying to say... we're trying to say, Ryu... is that you can't just go and try to finish this by yourself." Nina finished. "We're all with you... every one of us. Even if we're going up against a Goddess... even if our chances of dying are worse than ever before. You assembled us... you gave us a cause, a purpose. To save the world. Let us help you, when it's needed most." Ryu looked at them all, one by one, and then he gave them his answer. He reverted to his humanoid form and pulled Nina close. As usual, everybody else cheered and whooped. After a moment, they both turned to their team and smiled.

"Let's go back to Drogen, team." The Light Dragon grinned. "We've got some assault planning to do... for real this time."

"All right, people." Ryu opened the meeting. "You've all made it abundantly clear to me that we're not going to do this half-assed." The others made various responses of agreement. "To start, then, we should make our objective clear." His eyes flattened. "We will attack the flying fortress Obelisk. Our targets are three. First, the Black Warrior, Goda. Second, the Gold Lord, Jade. And third, the Goddess Myria herself. Once we enter, we shall not leave until all three are no longer a threat to the world. Does anybody have anything to change or add?" There was silence for a moment, and then Karn raised his hand.

"About Obelisk... it'll probably come apart if we waste Myria, but in case it doesn't, we're not going to just leave it flying around, are we? We should put something in there about plowing it into a mountain." Bo silently raised an inquiring eyebrow, and Ryu nodded, prompting the Forest Clanner to kick Karn in the shin. "OW! Hey!"

"Anything ELSE?" Ryu rolled his eyes. Nobody spoke again. "All right. Now, we figure out how to make it happen. Mogu, did you get a look at that place while we were up there?"

"I did, and it's not good." Mogu said grimly. "I can't dig through dirt when I have that narrow a space for any great length. Not yet, anyways. Elder Dugron can, though... I'll have to return to Gramor and learn it from him."

"We'll do that, then." Ryu decided. Karn raised his hand again.

"If that's going to take any length of time... could we go back to Bleak while Mogu's learning it? Turns out there's one more of my clan hiding out there... all this time and I never knew it."

"Stop by Bleak for Karn to learn one last Fusion." The Light Dragon nodded. "Anything else?"

"Well..." Gobi frowned. "How are we doing on funds?" Karn slapped his face.

"NOW, Gobi?"

"We're loaded." Ryu told him anyways. "Gust, Spring and Carmen all insisted on giving us 'a little something for our help.' Plus what we got from all the rulers back after we stopped the invasion of the East, we've got plenty. Why?"

"There's an open market section at Prima... only for the very wealthy." Gobi explained. "Like Karn said, if we have a day or two in wait, I should spend it there... I might be able to pick us up some things that could help."

"I feel like a flying taxi." Nina complained mildly. "Maybe I should start charging fare."

"Not if you want Gobi to have enough left to buy us things." Ryu countered, taking out his wallet. As he did, something else fell out of his pocket.

"Hey, what's that?" Deis asked, looking at the stone slab. The Light Dragon picked it back up.

"Oh, this? Just a gift from our OLD friend, Uncle Specs. I ran into him while I was catching a pufferfish for your amnesia antidote, Nina... he pulled this out and let me keep it."

"Huh." Ox craned his neck to get a better look. "What's that writing on it say?"

"Writing?" Ryu scanned it quickly. "This wasn't there before..." On one side of the slab was an ancient engraving. _The source of life... where mystic water lies... ultimate power sleeps..._ On the other side, the writing was much newer. _Where we first met-Uncle Specs._

"The Cave of Cleansing Water?" Bo asked, raising an eyebrow. "He wants us to go back there? What do you think, boss?" Ryu was staring at the slab, eyes slitted in thought.

"Yeah... we will. But we'll do that last... take care of everything else first. So, anybody else got something to add?" There was nothing. "All right, then. Gramor, Bleak, Prima, Cave of Cleansing Water... and Obelisk. Let's get to it."

Nina took them to Gramor in only a few hours. The Mole People had all arrived back by now, and they were extremely friendly, almost worshipping with their praise over Zog's death. Underneath it, however, was a hidden desperateness. They knew not even Gramor would be safe from Obelisk.

"Obelisk has to fall." Elder Dugron agreed with the heroes once they had gotten through to him. "However, from what Mogu has told me of the entrance... it would be a tough job, even for me. No... there's only one way to do it. We'll need the Iron Claw."

"Iron Claw?" Ryu asked.

"One of the treasures of our Clan..." Mogu explained. "Where is it then, Elder?" The old Mole Clanner coughed.

"Well... to be honest, I... lost it. Several years back... I dropped it into the ocean."

"Prima." Gobi snapped his fingers. "If it's a treasure, one of my Clan will have found it. And if it's not still for sale in Prima, we can find who bought it."

"Do that." Mogu agreed. "I'll stay here... you have to finish training me in technique as well, right, Elder?" Dugron nodded.

"Indeed. But you're sharp, Mogu... a tribute to our Clan. And I've noticed your self-esteem problem seems to have lessened as well." Mogu nodded.

"It's because of my friends."

"Couldn't have come this far without you, Mogu." Ox grinned. "Learn what you need to... we'll be back with the Iron Claw before you know it." From there, the heroes flew to Prima, making a quick stop at Bleak to drop off Karn. Once they were back in the underwater merchant city, Gobi quickly took them to Trout's bar.

"Guys!" Trout yelled, dropping a mug he had been polishing in shock. "Where have you been? Everybody's going nuts! It's the end of the world!"

"Not if we can help it, it ain't." Gobi disagreed. "Trout, we need your help. Has anybody been selling a strange artifact they found down here recently? We're looking for something called the Iron Claw."

"Iron Claw... oh! Bob sold this strange mechanical claw a couple weeks back!" Trout snapped his fingers. "This old human lady bought it... think she lives on an island off of Tantar." Gobi nodded.

"Thanks, Trout. I owe you one."

"So, we need to find this island now." Bo sighed. "Good luck at the market, Gobi... we're off again." Leaving the fat Maniro in Prima, they soon located the island. Its only feature was a rather pleasant cottage that looked like it was right out of a child's storybook, complete with white picket fence and vegetable garden. A somewhat stout old woman was working in said garden as they landed.

"Don't get many visitors out here." She commented without looking up. "Not saying that I mind, of course, but I'm guessing you people didn't come here just to make a new friend." Deis chuckled.

"Blunt, but effective. All right, then. We heard you own the Iron Claw."

"Sure do." The old woman admitted casually. "I collect weapons of all sorts. It's a hobby of mine in my retirement." She looked up at them. "So, you need the Iron Claw? Well, I'll admit to you right now... I'm not just giving it away, and I don't need money."

"Is there anything else we can do for you, then?" Ryu asked. The old woman nodded.

"You can help me find an old friend. We were in the army together... we shared our hobby. I haven't seen him in over a decade, though... and I don't know where he's gone." Ryu blinked.

"The army... would that be the Dark Dragon Army, under General Hassan?"

"You already know him, then?" She asked, not standing.

"We just might. We'll go check up with him."

"You do that." She nodded, continuing to garden. Heading south, the heroes soon located the tent of the old Dark Dragon ex-soldier who had helped them topple Castle Nabal.

"Well, if it isn't the young Dark Dragon." The old man greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"We may have a greeting from an old friend." Nina explained. "When you were serving under General Hassan... was there a woman who was a weapons buff like you in there?"

"Sure was." The old man nodded, then blinked. "Wait. Are you saying... she sent you to contact me?"

"You got it." Ryu nodded. "At least, we think it's her."

"Only one way to be sure." The old man vanished into his tent, then reemerged with a long, ancient strip of parchment. "Here... take this to her." It was a list of weapons, most of them crossed out. "We used this to keep track of our collection back in the army... she'll be sure to recognize it. Where is she now, anyways?"

"An island off of Tantar." Ryu informed him. "We'll take this to her."

"Thanks, Light Dragon... here." He pressed something else into Ryu's hand. They all stared. It looked like the boomerang... but at the back, where the bend was placed, a third arm stuck out. The three extensions were balanced exactly the same between them. Ryu hefted it.

"What... is this?"

"I'm calling it the Tri-Rang." The old man shrugged. "A while back, I was exploring the Island of Pagoda, and I found this. It should be even more deadly than the boomerang. Consider it my thanks for finding an old friend for me."

"Yeah... wow." Ryu grinned. "And who says Light Dragons and Dark Dragons don't get along? Thanks. Later, old man."

"Back north..." Deis groaned as they flew off again. "How long has it been since we slept? Argh..."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll take a break soon." Nina told her. Landing on the island again, they found the old woman still gardening. She looked up and saw the list, and immediately dropped her trowel.

"It... is him..."

"You recognize the list then, I take it." Bo guessed. The old woman nodded, taking it.

"I remember... we never did get it completed..." Turning, she ran into her cottage. A moment later, she came back out with a bizzare device. It was a blue, metallic gauntlet with strange dials and knobs all over it. At the front were two iron spikes on either side of a spinning drill. "Here... you've more than earned this."

"So this is the Iron Claw..." Ox said, examining it. "Wierd... but if Mogu needs it. Thanks, ma'am."

"I should be thanking you." She insisted. "Oh... where is he living? I almost forgot..." Nina smiled.

"East of Gant."

"Right." She immediately went back inside. "I'd best start packing for a trip..." She didn't even notice the heroes flying off to Gramor. A few hours after dawn, they staggered in, exhausted, and made for Mogu.

"Hey, guys." He greeted them. "It's going great! How are you?" Wordlessly, Ryu tossed him the Iron Claw. "Wow... this is it, all right! How did you get it, boss? Uh... boss?" No answer was forthcoming; he and the others had all fallen asleep on the floor. Elder Dugron shook his head.

"Kids today... too lazy."

"All right, Mogu... give it a shot." Elder Dugron encouraged him. The group were all back at Gramor, and they were watching the young Mole Clanner. Mogu took a moment to steady himself, then leaped into the air. When he came down, he was a whirlwind of spinning, slashing force. Everybody ducked as dirt clods and wood splinters flew everywhere. When Mogu stopped moving, he was standing in a hole deeper than he was tall.

"All right... I did it!"

"Next time, try not to come down on the wooden stool." Elder Dugron coughed. "That aside, though, very well done. And that wasn't even using the Iron Claw... that was on strength alone. You should be able to get into Obelisk with no trouble at all." The smile on the Mole Clan boy's face was like the sun rising.

"Great job, Mogu." Ox smiled. "And good work finding us these new weapons, Gobi."

"For how much I paid for them, they'd better be good." Gobi winced. "Still, I doubt we'll find better on the whole planet. Sorry I couldn't find anything for you, boss."

"I got a new toy anyways." Ryu smirked, giving his Tri-Rang a practice toss. "All right, Karn. Your turn. Show us your new Fusion."

"Your wish is my command, sahib." Karn bowed flamboyantly. "Bo! Gobi! Ox! Come here!"

"All three of us?" Gobi demanded. "Not just two?"

"This one's special." Karn grinned. "Stop being a baby. Ahem. Fusios Karn Canus Bo Pisces Gobi Taurus Ox! Fusios Puka! Puka!" The spell commenced, and the other four stared.

"What the..." The final fusion was... to say the least, odd. It did not bear the slightest resemblance to any of the four used to create it. Puka was a small, green reptilian imp who hovered in the air on fairy wings. His paws and tail were all curled up, and his mouth was at the end of an elongated snout. As the ludicrous final touch, he wore a purple cap.

"Uh... Puka?" Deis asked hesitantly. "You sure you're the right one for this job?" The little green Fusion didn't speak in response; he curled up into a sphere and took off like a rocket, rebounding insanely off the walls, ceiling and floor too fast for them to track. Every time he hit, he left a dent. Deis hit the deck. "All right, all right! I'm sorry!" Puka instantly came to a halt and uncurled, smiling happily. Unfortunately, when he opened his mouth to reply, all that came out as a warbling combination of squeal and grunt. His eyes crossed, and he defused.

"Have GOT to talk with the guys about that... got to be some way of putting in speech." Karn muttered. Ryu smirked.

"I like it as it is, kinda. All right then, shall we head to the Cave of Cleansing Water?" Fortunately, the trip east to the cave wasn't really that long. Actually going down took even less time; the fanged slugs and giant blobs that had been so dangerous before were harmless to the heroes now. At the bottom, they found themselves on a small island in the middle of the biggest lake they had ever seen. The entire thing was underground, and yet they could not see the cavern walls in any direction. Ancient, broken pillars rose both from the island and from the water itself, and an ancient set of stone stairs descended into the depths. None of this, though, caught their attention. What they WERE focusing on was the most disreputable-looking old man any of them had ever seen. He was wearing a stained and patched tunic and leggings, shoes that did not match, a burlap cloak and a piece of rope for a belt. A battered felt hat completed the effect, and he looked both unshaven and drunk. He doubtless would have been filthy as well, save that he was in the middle of the lake, actually swimming in the Water of Life.

"Hey, kids." Uncle Specs called to them, doing a backstroke. "If you're looking for the Water of Life, you've come to the right spot. Otherwise, you're in trouble."

"Not this time." Ryu shook his head, chuckling. "What about you, old man? Why are you back here?"

"Me?" The old man blew water like a whale. "Talking to God, I guess. Sometimes he even talks back. Quite often, to be honest; me and Ladon have always gotten along well." Suddenly, he stopped swimming, and his face became serious. Grabbing the surface of the water, he actually pulled himself up and stood on it as if it was solid. "Enough. It's not going to work, Ryu. Too many things have changed since the last time, and we don't HAVE time for this any more."

"No, we don't." Ryu agreed, ignoring the slack jaws of the others. "So why don't you take us to meet your boss, already?"

"Strap your Gills on and come on in." Uncle Specs invited, sinking to the bottom of the lake with only a thought. Ryu did as instructed, and after a moment, the others followed. At the bottom, they saw what they could not before; there was actually a door in the side of the island, leading into it. Uncle Specs took them inside. As soon as they entered, the water was gone; just not there, in defiance of all natural law. The building was a perfect cube of glowing marble with only one feature; an altar. On that alter, three old men were standing side by side. The High Priests; Melchior, Belthasar and Gaspar. And behind them was the shimmering apparition of Ladon himself. Without waiting for formalities, Ryu walked up, ignored the High Priests, and to everybody's dismay, delivered a staggering right hook to the Dragon God's jaw. Deis, Uncle Specs and the priests smiled grimly. The others took it less well.

"Ah..." Karn stammered, pointing. "Guh... bah... we're all gonna die."

"No... I deserved that one." Ladon admitted, rubbing his jaw. "Destiny has not been kind to you all... you least of all, Ryu."

"No... not me." Ryu rejoined his group. "Sara and the others in the Tiamat Unit are the ones you should really be apologizing to. But none of that is the issue right now."

"Correct." Uncle Specs agreed. "The issue here... is the Goddess Myria, and her two servants, the surviving Tiamat Unit. We had hoped you would be able to stop her rebirth, but our worst fears were confirmed... it was inevitable. There was nothing any of us could do. Fortunately, we had prepared a contingency plan... that Slab I gave you back outside Obelisk. Now, it's time to put that plan into effect." Bo stared at him.

"Are you saying... the entire time, the hobo act... you were steering us in the right direction for Ladon? Who ARE you, old man?"

"Most names have no meaning." The ancient one shrugged. "I've had many... Martin, Nero, Mygas... but the one I use in this day and age... is Spekkio, Grand High Priest of the Dragon God, Ladon."

"In other words, the only guy in the world aside from Ladon himself we're held accountable to." Belthasar remarked. "You have passed the three stages of the pilgrimage, and mastered the power of the Dragon. Few make it that far."

"However, where the pilgrimage ends is not all that is possible." Melchior admitted. "There is a step beyond that... a step that has been forbidden for millenia. This power may only be taught in the most dire emergencies. The power of Agni."

"The power of Agni... in a way resembles the techniques of the Fusion Clan." Gaspar explained. "It combines the children of destiny... you... into one form. But that form is not just a combination of your strengths... it is an incarnation of Ladon himself, and he shall be with you."

"In layman's terms..." Spekkio sighed. "Goda and Jade, you can handle. They are still mortals... even if they're pumped. But Myria? Not happening. Not even close... by yourselves. THIS will let you play on her level... even the handicap." He scowled. "Obviously, if you even THINK of using this on anybody BUT Myria... well, we won't be able to do anything right away. But I'll have a little... TALK with you when you're done. So I advise against it for Goda and Jade." He relaxed. "You don't need it for them, anyways... trust in your own abilities. This is just for the nasty evil lady who doesn't play fair. Fight cheaters with cheating."

"Enough." Ladon said wearily. "It is time. Ryu... we have something for you." At a nod, each of the priests produced something. Melchior held a shield, made to attach to the forearm in a way that would leave Ryu's hand free to hold the Tri-Rang. Belthasar carried a helmet with an open face and ornamental wings. Gaspar offered a breastplate, thick and strong with a place for the cape Ryu had worn ever since he left Drogen to be attached. All three were green-scaled, with the face of Ladon engraved on them. And in Spekkio's hands was a broadsword, ancient but still spectacular. The hilt was bound with interweaving strips of gold and silver, and the blade was sharp enough to split a hair. "These belonged to the Ryu who came before you. He wore them to his battle with the Goddess Myria. They are yours now."

"..." Silently, Ryu put on the armor... then the helmet, and then the shield. Finally, he took the sword. Facing Ladon, he raised it in grave salute. Suddenly, a bolt of silver lightning blasted from the ceiling, striking the sword. For just a moment, Ryu was lit up from inside with a tremendous power... and then it was gone, and he stood there alone. Ladon was gone.

"Ryu... boss." Bo whispered. "You okay?" Ryu turned around. He was smiling. He nodded, without saying a word.

"That's it, then." Spekkio clapped him on the shoulder. "We've done all we can, kids. The rest is up to you... all we can do is watch and cheer. We'll be rooting for you." The other High Priests nodded. Ryu looked at them, still not knowing what to say. Nina came to his rescue.

"Thanks, guys." She said, standing by the Light Dragon. "And we mean it. All of us." Ryu nodded, and the two of them turned to the rest of the heroes. Bo, Deis, Karn, Gobi, Ox, and Mogu looked back at Ryu and Nina. The looks on their faces spoke louder than any words could. "Is everybody ready? Let's stop Jade!"

Goda, the Black Warrior, walked silently down the halls of Obelisk. The flying fortress still made him uneasy; despite repeated assurances from both Lord Jade and the Goddess, the thought of so much empty air underneath them was not a comforting one. Plus, every so often he would find some place that had come out of the palace, and looked familiar... and then would turn out to be completely changed. Goda shook his head in resignation as he passed a pair of the brutish, inhuman guards that Myria had summoned to patrol the flying fortress. They stopped and saluted at his passing, looking completely unnatural, and would not move again until Goda nodded his acknowledgement.

"No, I don't like this place at all..." The Black Warrior muttered to himself. "Brother... if you had survived this long instead of me... what would you make of this Obelisk?" Thinking of Mote made the painful memories come anew, and Goda halted for a few moments, gritting his teeth. He forced himself to think of what would soon happen. Ryu. Ryu was coming to Obelisk. Finally, they would fight. That thought gave Goda the strength to walk on, towards the core of Obelisk.

"Ah, Black." Lord Jade greeted him as Goda entered the throne room. For obvious reasons, what had been the center of Scande now served the same function in the reborn fortress of Myria. With some modifications; the Gold Lord was sitting on what had been Emperor Zog's throne. "And how are you today, my faithful Black Warrior?"

"Restless, my Lord." Goda admitted. "All I have left is my fight with Ryu and his men. There is nothing else for me to do but wait... this flying fortress and the Goddess Myria hold no joy for me."

"That's a shame, Black. After everything we've done for them... you could enjoy them a little more. Myria likes us, you know... very much. You should try asking her to grant a few easy wishes, at the least... just for the fun of it." He leaned forward, eyes blazing in a way that eerily resembled the dead Emperor's. "It's fascinating, really, how much she can do. She is everything the legends say, and more, Goda... the Goddess Myria. And she's ours... she belongs to the Tiamat Unit."

"We are all that remains of the Tiamat Unit, my Lord." Goda reminded him. Jade leaned back again, making a nonchalant flip of one hand.

"In body, yes... but in soul, they still remain with us, Black. And they shall, until the end of it all." He paused for a moment. "I'd ask Myria to bring them back for a short time... she probably could... but I don't think they would like that. White especially... doubtless they would be very angry with me. No... it is best to let them remain as they are."

"Agreed, my Lord." Goda forced himself to keep his voice calm. "However... we will not remain here for much longer anyways. You do know that Ryu will be coming here again soon." Jade's eyes flashed.

"Black, if there is one thing above all others that I know... that is it." He smiled wider. "After all, what point a party without the guest of honor, hm?" Goda nodded in agreement.

"Yes indeed, my Lord. We shall be ready."

"Oh, yes." Jade assured him. "Have you seen the soldiers our Goddess conjured up to guard this flying fortress for us? True demons, from an underworld far below our realms. And here I had thought they were just old legends... shows what I know of such things."

"They do look formidable... moreso than humans or Dark Dragons." The Black Warrior admitted. Jade snorted.

"I should certainly hope so. Of course, there's no chance they'll actually be able to stop our little invading party, but they'll slow them down... inflict a few wounds. That's where we come in." Goda's eyes lit up.

"Just give the word, my lord, and I'll give them everything I have." He growled enthusiastically. The Gold Lord thought for a moment.

"We'll put you... at the end of the Path of Stars, I think. You can wait for them there, in plain view... near the Yellow Brick Hall. Will that work, do you think, Black?" Goda nodded.

"That will be perfect, milord. Should they dare to enter my sight, I shall assault them with everything I am."

"Oh, they will." Jade promised. "That much is clear to both of us-you know that, Goda. I will wait here, in this throne room at the core of Obelisk... and the Goddess Myria shall be beyond me, in the Hall of the Dark. Be ready for them when they do come... this is it. There won't be any more chances after this... it all ends here, today. It seemed like an eternity before this day finally came... and now it has, and I am ready."

"As am I, my Lord." Goda bowed. "Both for this day, and for Ryu himself. Let him come." He paused and looked around, a bit anxious about something. "My Lord... is there a Statue of Ladon in our fortress anywhere? I have been unable to find one, and I feel the need to pray to the Dragon God one last time before I throw myself into the teeth of destiny..."

"Unfortunately, there are no Statues of Ladon in the entirety of Obelisk." The Gold Lord admitted with an apologetic shrug. "Our Goddess has certain... opinions about such things, and refuses to allow even one. It is unfortunate, but there is nothing to be done... on this matter, she refuses to hear any counterargument, even from me. Sorry, Black."

"Ah well... I cannot truly say I'm surprised." Goda sighed. "It is somehow... fitting, I suppose is the word. Red or Blue would probably have something philosophical to say about it, but I don't really know of such things myself. I just know how to make things come apart... in assorted ways, both living and non. Ever since we met on that road, ten years ago..." The Black Warrior shrugged. "Play to your strengths, and develop them well."

"That is why you were selected to be the Black Warrior of the Tiamat Unit." Jade agreed. "For such reasons were we all selected. It's what we do... what we were born for, and what the others died for." He grinned. "Let's go, Black Warrior Goda. Let's mark the Tiamat Unit's place in history for all eternity with the largest, flashiest finale the world has ever seen."

"For the Unit... for the others... for the world." Goda agreed solemnly. "After all, we are the Tiamat Unit... the six-headed dragon from hell itself. We have no past... we have no future." Saluting the Gold Lord, he turned and left the throne room. Behind him, the artificial light illuminating the room flickered, and went out... but the glowing, dancing eyes of Jade still shone through the darkness.

The flying fortress of Obelisk blotted out the sunset as it soared southwest over the mountains of Auria; a grotesquely ostantatious bulk, wallowing through the sky like a whale in shallows. A keen-eyed observer below, however, might have been able to make out another shape in the sky streaming towards Obelisk; a much smaller, faster and more graceful shape. A bird.

"Watch the landing, watch the landing!" Bo cried as Nina screeched in atop the flying fortress. She came to a perfect stop and calmly looked over one wing at Bo, who grumbled to himself as he disembarked with the others. The single clear building remained where it had been, and entering it presented them with the same crack. Mogu took a deep breath and stood on it, activating the Iron Claw.

"All right... here goes nothing! YAAAH!" Leaping into the air, he came down as a whirling, living drill that plowed into the floor like it was sand. He bored down until he was lost from sight, and then the noise of the digging stopped. "Hey, guys! Come on down, I made it!"

"Knew you could do it, Mogu!" Ryu congratulated him as he jumped down, followed by the girls. There was a moment's pause, and the Puka Fusion brought up the rear. The path ahead of them resembled the final floor of Pagoda; a long blue path hanging impossibly over a bright, starry void. Where Myria's prison had been straightforward, though, Obelisk's path was winding and twisted, forming strange shapes... hearts, stars, crosses. And patrolling the path between them and the stairs down were monsters of nightmares. Hovering ICU Units like the Eye Spy of Krypt... disembodied eyeballs wreathed in masses of blue flame... tremendous crustaceans, stalking back and forth with claws like construction equipment...

"Might as well get the party started." Ryu shrugged, tossing out his Tri-Rang almost carelessly. An ICU was hit and went down with an ugly thwack, causing the other guardian demons to notice the intruders. Roaring, the Light Dragon charged into the fray, striking down any in his direct path with the Dragon Sword. Behind him, more death and destruction came with rapier, cane and claws, and the flying Fusion Puka brought up the rear, bowling stragglers over and knocking them into the stars. They soon reached the stairs that took them down to the next floor, which was much like the room above. However, there was one major difference near the end of the path, visible from where they stood already.

"Goda!" Nina growled. "The Black Warrior!" Goda watched them approach, unconcerned. The huge, red-skinned muscle man had not changed since they had seen him in Pagoda. He still wore his massive armor, and his face was still blank and empty. In his palms, however, he carried weapons now... two sledges, each as big as the ones Ox wielded with both his hands. One was constantly covered with flames, the other carved with stars. When they were only a few feet away, Goda spoke.

"I have waited long for this, Ryu the Light Dragon. Ever since you killed my brother, I have lived for one thing only. To fight you."

"Goda." Ryu frowned. "Tell me one thing. Why did you join Jade? You and Mote... and all the others. Why?"

"You wish to know that?" Goda's brow creased in what at first looked like confusion... and then turned out to be humor. "Heh heh heh... now, at the end, you wish to know of beginnings?"

"We saw some... in Mote's mind." Mogu explained. "And the others said some things... but not enough."

"You wish to know of my beginnings... and Mote's." Goda took up a battle stance. "Very well... this is a place where wishes are granted, and I shall not refuse your request. However... I shall not allow mine to be held back a moment longer. Let's go... all of you!" Roaring, he charged, swinging his hammers like some terrible siege engine. Ryu leapt back even as he transformed to avoid the first hammer that would have shattered his skull like an egg. The second one, he caught in one claw, and winced in pain even as the others took up positions flanking the Black Warrior.

"I barely remember my parents." Goda began talking calmly, even as he swung around to kick Puka in the chest. "It may be strange, as I lived with them for twenty years... but it is probably for the best. I do not know what Clan they were... I assume that one was human, and one was not, but where this blood-red skin comes from I cannot tell. Perhaps an Orc... or one of the demons that guard this place, even."

"Demons?" Deis hissed, hitting the Black Warrior with an earthquake spell. "Myria has summoned them to Obelisk again? I thought those monsters looked familiar, but I did not know they were THAT ilk."

"Indeed they are." Goda nodded, barely missing her tail with his flaming sledge. "There are some who have scales the same red as my hide, so it is possible I and Mote are descended from them as well. The one thing I know for sure is that my parents were monsters worse than I am, even now. They taught me all I knew of fighting, the hard way... if I had been smaller, weaker, I would never have survived." He thrust an elbow towards Ryu, who clamped onto it with his teeth. Unconcerned, the Black Warrior knocked him loose with the hammer of his other arm. "I owe my mighty body to their genes, my fighting skills to their abuse... and yet I would gladly kill them if I remembered where we lived. I wonder if they have heard of me now, and know that their son now holds the world in the hand they created."

"Not for long, you won't..." Mogu growled, slashing at the big man's armored foot. Goda almost absently kicked him away, continuing his tale.

"When I was twenty, my little brother was born. I saw right away that he was different from me... small, and frail. He would never survive under our parents... he wouldn't last a year. They named him Mote... an insignificance, a nothing whose cries they would silence with beatings. So I took him, and I left that cursed family forever. I became a roadside bandit... with my strength, there was nobody who was safe from me. I cared for my brother... it was us against the world, and we were winning. And then, one day months later, I saw who I thought would be my next targets. A man and a woman with long golden hair and white cloaks... and another, slimmer man with his skin and hair both dyed blue."

"Jade, Cerl, and Cort." Ryu realized, unleashing his energy-storm breath. Goda nodded, blocking the attack with his flaming hammer. The implement of destruction was knocked from his grasp and went spinning off into the void.

"Correct. I could not defeat the lead man... he was stronger than me. When it looked as if he would kill me... my brother protected me. Psychic powers... I had never even suspected, but Mote had tremendous untapped potential. The leader, Jade, realized this... and mine as well. He seemed to recognize us, even though we had never met before. He offered us positions in the Dark Dragon Empire... at the top of the most powerful Land in the world. I could not believe it at first... but then, he showed me the truth." The Black Warrior lowered his remaining hammer. "Enough. I have told you what you wanted. It is obvious that you have surpassed me in this form. If you wish to finish this, follow me... otherwise, leave. If you continue onward, I will not allow you to interfere with Lord Jade unless it is over my corpse." Turning, he walked down the stairway behind him. Ryu glanced at the others.

"Anybody actually want to turn back?" Nobody spoke. "That's what I thought. Come on." The next floor down began like the others, with the stars to their sides and back... but in front of them was a huge wall that extended up, down left and right as far as they could see. Directly before the platform the stairs were on was a single tunnel, neither wide nor narrow, made entirely of yellow bricks. The end of it was blank, but they walked forward anyways. And then, as the neared the back... a pair of eyes in the wall opened.

"I gave you a warning... a choice. You ignored it... now face the result!" The entire tunnel shook as Goda roared in anger, and another yellow brick wall dropped behind them, sealing away the path back. But the wall in front of them was what held their attention, as one yellow brick fist and then another ripped out. A massive, humanoid golem lunged forward and loomed over them. "Even before I became the Black Warrior, this form of mine I learned from White was a legend in Scande... they called me the yellow devil. One of our journeys ends here and now!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Goda!" Ryu agreed, launching his energy-stream breath. The mighty golem charged forward, laughing, as he took the attack full-on in the chest. One cinderblock fist struck Ryu in the nose and sent the Rudra flying. Another swerved left and almost swatted Nina out of the air.

"Over here, rocky!" Deis yelled, blasting him with a concussive spell like a thousand explosions packed into a tiny radius. Goda grunted and turned, charging her, only to recieve a hundred pounds of whirling Puka in the face. He took a step back, and Ryu and Deis both blasted him again.

"Grr... try this one, then!" The golem's upper half crumbled, the bricks falling apart and then coming together in a hovering ball of stone above his legs. The wrecking ball blasted out and slammed Nina violently into Ryu, then returned to the Black Warrior and reformed. "Ha ha... what do you think of THAT?"

"On par with the rest of your Unit, about." Nina groaned, picking herself up. "Nasty, sure... heads and shoulders above most people. But to us... annoying, but not enough." Puka screeched his agreement and slammed Goda again.

"Oh, is that so?" Goda reformed his wrecking ball and launched himself once more, this time at Puka. But he didn't stop at one blow this time; he slammed into the Fusion repeatedly, hammering him into the ground. Mogu frantically began slashing at it, and Ryu joined him. Together, they forced Goda back, but what awaited them was not Puka's green form, but all four of their friends who had made him up.

"Ugh... what the hell?" Gobi clutched his head. Goda laughed derisively.

"Idiots... haven't your Clan taught you, Karn? Severe damage to a Fusion will cause it to divide back into its individual components... White told me. You fall apart... just like your entire team will, in the end!"

"You ARE an fool." Bo got to his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily, along with the other three. "We're as tightly bound to each other as you Tiamat Unit were... as you still are. We'll never come apart in spirit. You guys, take five... we've got this covered, don't we?" Gobi, Karn and Ox nodded.

"You sure?" Mogu frowned. "You don't look too good..."

"Trust us, fellas." Karn grinned. "While we were still Puka, we saw how to take this big brute down for keeps... we all know it. Right, boys?" Again, the other three nodded. "You four save your strength for Jade... let us handle Goda, and when we're done, we'll re-fuse and Nina will only have to heal one guy instead of all of us."

"All right." Ryu decided. "Take him down!"

"Fools!" Goda thundered. "You'll regret your overconfidence!" His upper body dissolved again, but this time it did not form into the wrecking ball. Instead, the bricks flew out seperately, mixing with those in the tunnels around them. And then, like a storm of huge, weighted insects, they began flying out, smashing into the four challengers. Growling, Gobi stood his ground, thrusting with his pike at each brick as it passed him. Karn leaped around, knives clenched in his hand, swiping through the air at his foe. Bo launched flaming arrows, knocking the weapons out of the sky. And still the bricks came on.

"Ha ha... keep trying! You'll never defeat me this way-EH?" Goda realized, too late, that Ox was not attacking the bricks. The big Builder Clanner had rushed the immobile lower body, ignoring the impacts the flying bricks made on his bulk. "NO!" The attacks ceased and tried to reform, but it was in vain; Ox's sledge was already descending. It slammed into the top of Goda's abdomen, and the bricks around there crumbled, revealing a glowing ruby, the size of a human heart. A ruby that cracked, faltered... and shattered into hundreds of shards. The bricks reformed around it, but they were immobile... there was no animation, no eyes stared from the head. And then they crumbled into yellow dust that covered the dying body of Goda, the Black Warrior.

"You... were right." Goda breathed, looking at them all with eyes already fogging over. "You... were stronger than I was. I couldn't avenge my brother... but now, at least... I will see him again."

"That you shall, Black." A voice that Ryu had thought he would never hear again agreed. Behind Goda, a shimmering nimbus of silver light formed into Sara... hazy, translucent. Behind her, Ladon watched silently as she bent over and picked up the gigantic man as if he weighed no more than a feather.  
"Sis..." Ryu whispered, unconsciously returning to his own humanoid form.

"Hush, Ryu." Sara commanded gently. "You can't get depressed and dramatic now... you can do that after you're done here. Remember, Lord Jade is still waiting for you... Black was only the first of your adversaries here. And beyond Lord Jade lies a power even greater. Go, brother... finish the path you set out upon." And then, she and Ladon and Goda were all gone. The only trace of them remaining was the hole in the wall shaped like the Black Warrior's final form... and the abandoned, star-carved sledge. Ryu stared at it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Right. Fuse again, guys." He commanded curtly. Karn, Bo, Gobi and Ox did so, and Nina took a moment to heal Puka. "Okay, then. Let's keep going... it's time to settle things once and for all with the Gold Lord."

From then onward, the flying fortress of Obelisk was only more intense. Now, it was a multi-level maze, forcing them to run up and down and across stairways and bridges and ledges, seeing the way down always but remaining so far away. The demons guarding it were many and deadly... yellow, shrieking gargoyles that would come tearing out of shadowy corners the moment eyes were averted... huge, lumbering green ogres... golden masses of slime in forms resembling humans and forms of hovering behemoths... and yet, like the ones above, all fell. In the end, the heroes came out in a familiar hallway... long, red and carpeted.

"Throne room up ahead." Nina remembered. "He'll be in there."

"Jade..." Ryu gripped his sword and Tri-Rang. "You're mine." The five heroes kicked open the double doors simultaneously and marched inside.

"Ah, there you are." Jade greeted them. "I felt Goda's life force slip away, and I knew you had bested him. You've managed to keep up with me... with my Unit... at every step ever since you assembled your own side, in spite of all the odds. Well done, all of you... well done indeed." The Gold Lord now sat upon what had been Emperor Zog's throne. It had been repainted to match his color of choice, Ryu noted, and what had formerly been his over the door was now coated in silver. The four other thrones-blue, red, white, black-remained untouched, but the chairs for the lesser officers had all been removed. Jade himself was unchanged-at first glance. He wore the same clothes, and his face still bore the same cold, emotionless smirk as always. The difference was in his eyes... they were the same as Zog's had been, dancing with internal fire. Whether it had always lurked beneath the surface or had only been brought forth by his recent dalliance with Myria, the Gold Lord's insanity stood clearly visible to them all.

"Jade." Ryu greeted him coolly. "Your Unit is dead. Cort, Mote, Cerl, Goda... Sara." His eyes closed for a moment, then opened, blazing every bit as much as Jade's. More controlled, more focused... but still there. "Get ready to join them. You're dead too, Jade."

"Funny... I don't feel dead." Jade countered. "As a matter of fact, I feel more alive than ever! The Goddess Myria... is amazing, Ryu. She is the ultimate power... truly, beyond mortal comprehension."

"Beyond mortal limits, is what you mean." Ryu shook his head. "She should have remained sealed away for all eternity, Jade... and you, in your foolishness, released her. Now it falls to us to stop her... and you."

"Interesting point there." Jade raised an eyebrow. "Your destinies are not set in stone, you know... and my Unit, as you pointed out, is very dead. If you switch allegiances and join me... by my side, you could understand the power of Myria as well. What do you say, Ryu? Want to rule the world?"

"TELL me you're not serious." Ryu made a disgusted face. "I mean, I know we don't exactly hold each other in high regard-to say the least-but come ON. You can't actually think I'll agree to that." Jade frowned... then laughed.

"Ha ha ha! No, you're right. The Goddess was the one who wanted me to make the offer... I told her you wouldn't go for it, but she insisted. She has this thing about trying to tempt us mortals."

"We noticed." Nina remarked dryly.

"Ah, but you were wrong about something else." Jade informed them. "I DO hold you in the highest regard... all of you. You are peers... equals to me and my Unit. It will grieve me greatly to dispatch you."

"Not happening." Ryu shot back. "Other way around, Jade. We're here to take YOU out... just like we did Zog, and like we will Myria after you're dead."

"Like you will... Myria...?" Jade stared at him incredulously, then laughed again, twice as hard. "Oh, Ryu! And I thought my old friend Zog was insane! But you... you take the prize, my friend! You think... that you will kill MYRIA? Now I'll regret killing you even more!"

"It's not quite as funny as you might think." Mogu smiled darkly. "We've got an ace up our sleeve... from somebody even bigger than your lady friend. The deck's stacked in our favor."

"My friends, the deck was stacked AGAINST you since even before MY Unit was formed." Jade chortled. "You think you know what is happening... and yet, you truly know so little..."

"So tell us." Ryu challenged. "Each time we met one of your Unit, they told us a little more of the puzzle. Now you're the last one left... so you should finish it. How did it begin, Jade? Why did you form the Tiamat Unit, why did Zog go insane? How did you turn five good people into merciless killing machines? TELL US." Interest flickered in Jade's eyes.

"Ha... so that's why you haven't attacked me yet. Curiosity. Very well, I can oblige you that much. Sit back, my friends, and I shall tell you a story of two young men... the best of friends they were. Fifteen years ago, it was... bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, they set out on a journey, as young men often do. But this journey was not just for fun and games... it was to unlock a great power, unique to their Clan. To do so, they needed to visit three Dragon Shrines, located all around the world. These young men... their names were Prince Zog, and General Jade. Zog was a forceful young man... charming, handsome, charismatic. He already had the nation behind him, and it was widely believed that he would be a credit to the Land for the history books. His father was old, soon to die, and Zog knew he would take the throne soon. To do so, his Dragon Powers needed to be unlocked, and so he took his best friend from childhood and set off. Jade, now... he was more intelligent, but less popular... he was the quiet one, never given much to social niceties. But he knew how things worked... he could see what people were truly like, behind all their false smiles and bravado. Thus, he was in invaluable asset to the Prince... neither alone would have been able to hold down their positions, and with a weaker partner they would have been only mediocre... but together, they were truly a force to be reckoned with."

_"You know... once my father dies... I'm going to be the Emperor, Jade..."_ A young man's voice came from nowhere. _"I'll make our kingdom even greater than it already is... I'll make treaties with the other Lands, friends with the other Clans... I'll unite the world."_

_"That's a big dream... and it's one that can't be accomplished through willpower alone. You're going to need somebody to help you... somebody who understands both you and the way the world works, Zog."_ Another voice, this one familiar... Jade's, although the Gold Lord's lips were tightly shut. _"But don't worry... it's covered. I'll stay with you the entire way... and give you a shoulder to lean on when you're at the top."_

"And so it went, for two Dragon Shrines..." The present Jade continued. "And then, the third came... up near Gust. In that one day... for those two young men... the world shattered. Jade went first... to prepare the way for his Emperor, he said. And there... in that room, the High Priest left. Jade wondered why... and then he found out. The beast that was summoned to fight him... it spoke. While they battled to the death, it talked to him... terrible words, that etched themselves into Jade's mind in fire, every one. And no matter what he did, Jade was unable to silence the beast."

"What did it say...?" Nina whispered. Jade grinned, baring his teeth. It was a hideous sight.

"It told Jade... of the future. And not vague generalities... specifics. It told Jade of what would become of him and his friend Zog when they left here. It told Jade of the Tiamat Unit he would create... of Cerl, heart broken and outcast from her people, with nothing left but revenge... of Cort, altering himself forever in his zeal for knowledge... of Goda and Mote, fleeing from a hell they were born to... of Sara, sacrificing herself to save her people." His eyes flashed. "It told me of YOU... Nina, the Princess of the Sky... Bo, the Forest Archer... Karn, the Prince of Thieves... Gobi, the Merchant of the Sea... Ox, the Mighty Giant... Mogu, the Master Digger... Deis, the Legendary Sorceress-THAT one was a shock, I assure you-and... Ryu, the Champion of Light. And then... it told me of how events would play out between us. Your rising in the Lands of the East... the deaths of my Unit, one after another... my betrayal of Zog, and my freeing the Goddess... and here, where we are now. I already know the truth of what will happen... it is carved in flames, tattooed into my soul. And so, Jade finally slew the beast and emerged with the Power of the Dark Dragon. He watched his old friend Zog enter, knowing full well that when he came back out, he would no longer be the same either... that the final trial would drive him horribly insane, warp his dreams of a unified world into dreams of a conquered world. The lust for domination over all would burn his oldest friend out from the inside... and he watched him go, and did nothing to stop him."

"The truth..." Mogu realized with horror. "Sara and Goda said you showed them... and all the others... does that mean..."

"Indeed it does." Jade agreed. "And now you see the reality at last. To transform them into the Tiamat Unit, I showed Cerl and Cort and Goda and Mote and Sara the same truth that Ladon-for doubtless, it was he-showed me. They all knew the future as well as I did. They knew of their own deaths in advance, and did everything in their power to fulfill those destinies to the letter. THAT is the truth of the Tiamat Unit. In becoming the Unit, we abandoned our pasts... knowing full well the point at which our lives would stop, and we would have no future. And in the last, final moments of his life... even poor, mad old Zog knew it too." Jade threw back his head and laughed, long and deep... and nobody spoke. They all watched Ryu, whose head had become bowed.

"...You." His head snapped up. "How DARE you! Those were people's LIVES you talk about... not just the Unit, but everybody else who died because of the Dark Dragon Empire! And you've been behind it all... steering it all onward, just to make things come out here?"

"That's right." The Gold Lord stood. "And I succeeded. Everything has gone exactly as I wished... now, it's just us here. My Unit died for my glory... now, it's time for the purpose those deaths occured for to come to a head. Are you ready, Ryu? And all of you? Your chance has come. If you disapprove of my life... if you think I was wrong... then show me." He threw his arms wide, welcoming. "Prove to me that I was wrong, the only way you can!"

"Oh, we will..." Ryu hissed, transforming into his Rudra form for the second time. "This is it for you, Jade. You're not the only one who can see the future, you know. I'm seeing yours, right now... and I see death. Take your dragon form, and let's go. For you, everything ends... NOW."

"My dragon form? Oh, no no no..." Jade's eyes began glowing. "That form, while powerful, pales in comparison to TRUE power... the power that only the Goddess Myria can grant... the power that is MINE, and mine ALONE!" The Gold Lord's form became completely dark... as if he was only a vague shape, completely filled in with black. The darkness spread, covering the throne room, and the five heroes stood, alone in the void. And then... in front of them... someTHING moved.

"Ladon..." Nina whispered. The Gold Lord had become a monstrosity beyond their wildest imagination. A mass of biological spheres; the main body a mix of midsized, smooth purple ones and huge, warty red globes. Spiny, yellow insect legs crawled out from the bottom and dangled below. On top, piled in a heap were a mass of tiny orange orbs, with long black tentacles poking upwards from them. And deep inside the entire jumbled mess, two baleful green eyes flashed.

_"Behold TRUE power!"_ Jade screamed in triumph, releasing a blizzard that raged over the heroes like an avalanche. And yet... they stood.

"This isn't true power..." Ryu declared. "This is an abomination... a mockery. You HAD power, Jade... and you threw it away. Zog's mistake, the one that cost him his life, was yours as well... and it will bring an end to you." Flying forward, he sank teeth and claws into one of the warty red spheres. Jade laughed.

_"That will avail you nothing... see!"_ Flickering, the globe detached and flew out, slamming Ryu into a wall before exploding. Instantly, a new one grew in its place. _"This body is a living weapons cache... infinitely regenerating, impossible to destroy!"_

"Don't count on it, jerk!" Deis raised her staff. "One thing I've learned in all my years... NOTHING is impossible!" The concussive spell she had unleashed upon Goda shook Jade's body, ripping at the interior, and the Gold Lord grunted in pain. Turning, he released another red globe into the Sorceress. As soon as he did, Puka rammed him from behind, then shrieked into the mess. The ultra-high-pitched noise knocked off a purple sphere.

_"ARGH! You'll pay for that one, Fusion!" _Jade howled, smashing Puka into the floor with one massive claw. Where the purple sphere had been, it did not regenerate; instead, a thick red goo oozed.

"The purples!" Nina realized, swiping at another with her saber. "Aim for the purple ones-ACK!" Another leg had swiped her aside, but the message had gotten through. Ryu aimed for the sphere she had targeted and exhaled, hard. The blast of energy atomized the sphere. In the rear, Mogu dived on another, dug in and ripped it from its socket.

"Got you!"

_"Damn... very well, then! Survive THIS!"_ From the pile on Jade's top, tiny yellow globes were launched high into the air, to rain down on them all... and burst, liquid that smoked and burned.

"Acid!" Deis hissed. They scrambled to brush themselves off, but to no avail. Jade laughed.

_"Ha ha... who has the upper hand now, my little heroes?"_ He sneered... then froze. Something behind him... something familiar... he whirled around and saw silver sparkles raining from Nina, covering her and all her allies, erasing the acid and any previous wounds. _"WHAT? Complete healing, instantly... on multiple targets?"_

"Ultimate White magic." Nina nodded grimly. "Something I saw your friend Sara, the Silver Priestess, do... and that's not all you get." She pointed behind the Gold Lord, just as a wave of intense pain swept over his back. Every purple sphere on the rear was loosened, weakened in pain. Overhead, Jade saw the edges of the spell; a storm of blistering power, like the Rudra's breath but much more wide-ranging.

"The Comet spell." Deis lowered her smoking cane. "The most powerful Black magic I know... NOW I remember it. Still, I'm glad I did at all." Jade winced as the wounded spheres on his back were finished off by Mogu and Puka.

"It's as I said, Jade." Ryu growled. "This isn't power. You lost your power... and you didn't even realize it."

_"What nonsense do you babble?"_ Jade hissed. _"I never give away power... I TAKE it!"_ This was punctuated by another burst of acid spheres. Ryu stood still in front of the Gold Lord, ignoring the pain and knowing that Nina would heal them again. A moment later, the silver sparkles flashed, and it was gone.

"Your true power wasn't like this." Ryu reminded him. "Your real power... was your team. Cort... Mote... Cerl... Goda... Zog... Sara. If you had kept them by your side... the world WOULD have been yours, and we would be dead by now. Instead, you used them... sacrificed them to fulfill some idiotic 'destiny'. And look at you now... all alone, with nobody left but Myria... and you're losing."

_"My Unit died for me."_ Jade agreed. _"They knew they would... and they did so to bring me to ultimate power! Their deaths were their purpose for living... they gave everything for me!"_

"And THIS is how you repay them?" Ryu demanded. "Talking of them as if they were some commodity, to be used and discarded? You didn't deserve them, Jade... you didn't deserve any of them! You never intended any of this to be FOR them... you just made them do the work you couldn't, and hid behind your selfish excuse to endanger the world! Their lives were wasted on you... you've made their deaths meaningless!" Behind the globes and orbs, the Gold Lord's eyes darkened.

_"You... SHUT UP!"_ He lunged forward, claws grasping and tentacles throbbing, and Ryu dodged to the side.

"Ha... there we go. Emotion, from the 'man of ice'? Looks like that question cuts pretty close to the truth!" Enraged, Jade dived for him again, and again the Rudra dodged. "But then... why emotion if it's entirely true? Would the man who truly thought of them as nothing but tools be so angered?"

_"What do YOU know about it?"_ Jade demanded, facing him. _"You know nothing... NOTHING!"_

"WRONG!" Ryu yelled back. "I know EXACTLY what it's like to lead a group of people you trust... care about... rely on... even love. What it's like to lead them onward into an impossible situation... knowing that you might be getting them all killed. And I know... that you're dealing with this the wrong way. Jade... your Unit didn't follow the 'man of ice.' They followed the man who took them in when they had nothing, who picked them up out of the gutters and gave them an entirely new world they never dreamed could be theirs. They don't want you to purge yourself of emotion... not now. Stop hiding, Jade! Don't hold back ANYTHING! If you want true power... then BE true to your power! Not false power from Myria... your REAL strength! Your Unit... and yourself!" Jade's eyes narrowed, and then sagged... brightening.

_"Then... you and me?"_

"You and me." Ryu nodded. "Until one of us falls. On determination... and will alone."

_"Agreed."_ Jade concentrated, as Ryu inhaled... and then both attacked at once, Ryu exhaling a constant stream of molten energy while Jade smashed out with interlaced javelins of light. Neither moved; they remained in place. Neither let up; they continued attacking. Both were glowing now, the energy being unloaded into their bodies accumulating. And then... only an inch at first, but then more and more... the lances of light began fading. Ryu's energy blast continued, but Jade's weakened... faded... was gone. The spheres shook... trembled... the green eyes dimmed... and then, in one horendous explosion, the abomination exploded into a million pieces, leaving the mangled, bloody, beaten Gold Lord hanging in air. Clothing and skin were both shredded, bloody red, like he had been run through a giant cheese grater. And then with a flash, the darkness around them disappeared, revealing the throne room again as the Gold Lord smashed into the floor, plowing up pieces of tile as he skidded into the back wall. Nobody spoke, but on simultaneous urges, Puka and Ryu both reverted. The eight heroes gathered around Jade, silent... and the Gold Lord spoke, his voice agonized.

"So... I lose."  
"That's right." Ryu nodded. "But you gave it all you had before you did. Your Unit... would be proud."

"We are." A familiar voice agreed. This time, Ryu didn't turn... none of them did. They simply parted and stood in rank on either side as the two hazy, ethereal spirits approached. This time, however, they were not alone... five more walked with them. Jade's dying eyes struggled to focus.

"Silver... Emperor... all of you...?"

"We're here to take you away." Ladon agreed. "Your job is done... she has no more purpose for you. Like all who have followed her, she has abandoned you... but we are here to give you rest."

"Her...?" Jade gasped. "Do you mean to say..."

"Correct, Jade." Ladon nodded somberly. "It was not I who spoke to you and Zog."

"...The seal." Deis snapped her fingers. "After all this time... it would weaken, just a fraction. Not enough for her to even think of escaping... but to send her voice to a place where such things are strong... and to alter two mortals." Jade struggled to sit up, even through his fatal wounds.

"To alter... two mortals..." He whispered. "Then... all of it... the truth, the future... she told me that... so I would make it so, and free her?"

"Myria is the Goddess of Lies." Sara nodded somberly. "None of us knew either, until after our deaths... and once we were hers, Ladon could not change us back."

"Jade." Ryu walked forward again. "She told you... that you would lose this fight, didn't she?" Jade slowly nodded.

"Yes... that was what truly pushed me over the edge... knowing that I would die hated, reviled, a figure known and despised across the world... and the only people who thought different, dead before me..." He made a noise almost like a sob. "Yes, I hid my emotion... who wouldn't? I was stricken insane as well, as my Emperor was... I just disguised it better."

"That's why you lost our final batle of wills." Ryu realized. "I had to live... and you knew you would die. And... what did she say would happen after this fight?" Jade looked up at him, smile grim.

"You have to ask? You go on, you fight Myria... and she destroys you all. But..." His smile widened. "That truth... is no longer valid. You said... you had an ace up your sleeves. Is it... a good one?"

"Best I've ever seen... and I haven't even seen it yet." Deis told him. Jade's eyes flickered.

"Then... I have one more thing to say. Ryu... all of you... the Tiamat Unit is dead. Finish... the job. I won't ask you to forgive me... I won't ask you to sympathize with me. I deserve none of that... for my foolishness. All I ask... is that you finish the job. Only when... SHE is gone... will I and my Unit be able to sleep. Farewell... Champion of Light." The Gold Lord's eyes glimmered once, and something glittered in them... and then they were closed, forever. Silently, the Tiamat Unit and Zog stood around him, and together they lifted his body. His sword, unused in the battle, fell and clattered to the ground, ignored. With Ladon leading them, the procession of dead spirits walked away. When they had gone, Ryu sheathed his own sword, and picked up Jade's.

"Let's go." He said, and the seven others nodded. One by one, they followed him out behind the throne, each of them remembering the Gold Lord's face in his final moment. His expression was serene... calm... but his eyes were brimming over with emotion.

Across the starry void the eight heroes walked, on an invisible path to an unseen end. They kept going forward, ignoring the sights that raged around them. War... battle... death... from the Dragon War, the more recent attempts of the Dark Dragon Empire, and other confrontations throughout history. Deis' eyes narrowed with recognition at some scenes, but aside from that, none of them showed the slightest emotion. They simply continued forward. No more demons tried to bar their way; the path was clear. And then, underneath them, purple tiles appeared forming a sunburst. The eight of them stood, one on each arm of it, and in the center, a shining light appeared. Not white, not gold, not any one color but a flickering, flashing combination of every one they knew, it grew and took a form. A small, impossibly beautiful girl with golden hair, wearing a simple blue dress. They had seen her once before, being carried from Pagoda in the Gold Lord's arms. Now, she stood before them directly.

"Hello." She said cheerfully. "You're Ryu, aren't you? And you're Nina... and Bo, and Karn, and Gobi and Ox and Mogu... oh, and Deis! Here you are, come to see me again! It's nice to meet you all again. Did you come here to have a wish granted?"

"Cut the crap." Deis growled. "You know why we're here."

"People come here to have wishes granted." Myria continued, smiling as if she hadn't heard the Legendary Sorceress. "Lord Jade wanted me to grant some wishes for him... I did. Goda didn't, though... he was a miserable man, really. So sad... both of them were, to be honest. You, however... I LIKE all of you. I'll grant any wish you want, for you guys. Go on, ask! Ask me for anything..." Hovering into the air, she floated over to Gobi. "How about money? Gold's an easy trick for me... I can make enough to keep you all happy for the rest of your lives." The Goddess moved in front of Mogu. "Power, too. I can give you that as well... enough to make sure nobody ever laughs at you or thinks you're weak again." Now she switched to Ox. "Perhaps knowledge of the future? I can show you of worlds yet to be created... of people yet to be born. You can see how it will all turn out, now." She turned to Karn. "Maybe life, then? I can grant it, even to people long dead... and not just zombies. I can restore entire Clans to full life, if you ask." She smiled at Bo. "Should I give you strength of mind? All worries, all fears, can be banished forever... you'll never fret over anything again." The Goddess switched to Nina. "And then there's love... with my power, rules and regulations are nothing. You can have who you want, when you want, and nobody can stop you." She glanced at Deis. "You'll have friendship... and respect. You'll never be lonely, ever again... scores of loyal friends, willing to die for you and me." And then she stood before Ryu. "So, how about it? Anything you want, anything at all? Ask, and it shall be granted." Ryu looked back at her, face expressionless... and then he swung at her with Jade's sword. The Goddess leaped back, narrowly avoiding it, and her eyes grew confused. "What? What are you doing?"

"We need no wishes... we make our own destinies." Ryu spoke for them all. "Like those who locked you away, Myria, your temptations won't work on us."

"You... didn't come here to have a wish granted?" Myria's smile disappeared. "Then... why ARE you here? Why did you draw your sword on me? Do you want to fight me?"

"Now you get the picture." Bo smiled humorlessly as the others all readied their weapons. "You probably know this already, but Goda and Jade are already dead. That just leaves you. The Goddess Keys are gone... even if we had them, we don't know how to seal you away again. That leaves us with having to get rid of you the old-fashioned way. I suppose it's a bit inapproriate for one of your stature, but it's all we could come up with, so you'll just have to be satisfied with it." Myria stared at him for a moment, and then she put her hands to her eyes as large tears began welling out of them.

"No... don't! I don't like fighting!"

"Tell that to all the people you killed in the Dragon War!" Deis yelled scornfully, releasing her Comet spell. It was like a starting gun; the other seven rushed forward and attacked. Sword, bow, rapier, sledge, daggers, claws and pike all struck home, accompanied by more destructive spells from Deis.

"Stop! Please!" Myria sobbed, making no attempts to fight back. They ignored her and continued... and still she did nothing but scream in pain every time they struck. The wounds they inflicted should have been fatal, but the little girl just cried and bled more, begging them to stop. "It hurts... it hurts! No more... I didn't do anything! Please... don't hurt me any more!" Slowly, one by one, the heroes began lagging in their attacks. Ox was the first, followed by Mogu... then Nina, and Karn... Bo and Gobi. Finally, even Ryu and Deis pulled back.

"This... this ain't right, boss." Karn muttered, subdued. "This isn't how it's supposed to go... is it?"

"Yeah..." Gobi agreed. "I mean, I know who she is... but... just looking at her, you just... can't."

"This is probably bullshit... but... I can't either." Bo admitted. "I don't... I don't kill little girls, boss."

"She's not really a little girl... she's a Goddess... but..." Nina shook her head. "What's wrong with me..."

"After everything she's done..." Mogu said, trying to convince himself. "She's responsible for it all, but... she looks... kind of like my sister..."

"I'm... thinking of my kid." Ox sighed. "What... if it's a girl? What if it... looks like this? Geez..."

"Stop it." Deis snapped. "All of you... and me, too. We have to stop thinking about it. Of course... it would help if SOMEBODY would fight fair... sister." Everybody broke off their talking to stare at Deis... and then at Myria, who was smiling again.

"I was wondering when you were going to acknowledge that, sister. You barely tell anybody about it... sometimes I think you're ashamed of me. But I still love you, sis... even though you sealed me away."

"SISTER?" Nina demanded.

"That's right." Deis nodded. "She's my twin sister... always has been. We're nothing alike, fortunately... although what she REALLY looks like does have a snakey touch to it, I suppose. Why don't you show them, sis? Let me see your REAL face again, hm?"

"If you really want me to..." Myria pouted. "But you don't REALLY... do you? You don't hate me, really... do you, sister? You know I care for you... and you try to pretend you don't care about me, about anybody. You put up a tough facade, but you really do get so lonely over the years... and I'm the only one who sticks around." She made a face. "Well, there's dad too... but he's not exactly the social type. Why, I'll bet the two of you haven't had one father-daughter moment ever since you've woken up again. He barely ever even came to see me when I was locked away." She smiled again. "But I don't hold grudges, sister. We can be friends... good friends, all of us. You're all a very close group, aren't you? Don't you have room for one more member? Please? Come on... I'll do anything for you! Like I said, I like you guys! Won't you all be my friends?" Deis' teeth gritted, and her eyes were closed. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"This is a trick..." Ryu spoke for the Legendary Sorceress. "She's trying to turn us... like the Tiamat Unit. We have to be strong... resist her..."

"Did somebody call our names?" A new voice broke in. A strong, confident woman's voice. Above Myria, seven hazy, ethereal figures appeared. Cort... Mote... Cerl... Goda... Zog... Jade... and Sara. All of them looked upon the child goddess with scorn as Sara spoke again. "Don't be taken in, little brother. This is the Goddess of Lies, remember? You can't beat her like this... like you are now."

"I am not!" Myria turned to them, indignant. "I've done nothing!" Sara shook her head in contempt.

"You can't snare us again... we're beyond your reach forever, now. Ryu... simply being in her presence like this exposes you to an assault you can't see. She's fooling your heart... she does that to any mortal who sees her like this. She is evil, hidden in lies of innocence. The only way to turn it off... is to see the truth. Ladon prepared you for this, but you have to actually take action. Use the power of Agni... that will show you the reality here." Myria's eyes suddenly caught fire, turning into live coals.

"Agni! You have that? He gave you THAT?" She whirled on Ryu, and her hair flew upward, lifted into the air in a violet nimbus of power that suffused her body. "Don't you dare...!"

"Agni, huh..." Ryu smiled coldly. "All right, sis... you've made your point. We've got this." The Tiamat Unit nodded and vanished as Ryu closed his eyes, feeling for the power inside him. "Ladon entrusted us with this power... it's time for us to live up to that trust! The truth now, Myria... let's see what you REALLY are!" His eyes blazed golden, and Myria fell to the ground, stricken.

"You... you actually mean to do this." She hissed, all traces of good will gone. "You mean to fight me... mere mortals want to fight ME to the death!" She smiled, showing a mouth full of vicious fangs. "Very well then... I tried playing nice! Now, I'll let you join your friends in the Tiamat Unit! You gave me no choice... now face the consequences!" The small girl shimmered, and her entire form-skin, dress, hair-shifted texture, becoming scaly yellow skin. From below, long tentacles unfolded, like an octopus... but they were not tentacles, but fanged worms, grinning mouths dripping with poison. Where their back ends joined, a twisted torso bulged upward, covered with blue eyes and long horns. Two spindly, sticklike arms ended in clawed hands. And yet it was the head that was worst of all. Not one, but two hideous mouths filled with rotten fangs grinned gruesomely down, with a pair of tiny, beady eyes just above them. The Goddess Myria, larger than even Zog had been, glared down at them with pure hatred. _"Light Dragons... always, always interfering! Always spoiling my fun! Not even the Dark Dragons could kill you... but I can! Tremble, puny mortals, for a Goddess is here to strike you down!"_ And yet... despite the awesome, impossible might before them... not one of the eight heroes had fear upon their face. Ryu looked up at the Goddess of Lies, with eyes blazing, and spoke four words.

"I don't think so." The golden light from his eyes spread out, and touched the other seven, forming an interlacing network of power... and then they disappeared, even as Ryu grew, grew like the Goddess had. Myria stared in disbelief as the titan rose. A centaurian body, four taloned legs and two powerful arms... a curving tail, and a huge mane and beard of brown fur. Multiple horns jutted up, and two broad, pure white wings stretched. And the face... was like every dragon in the world, pulled together into one. No... it was the face of Rudra, and it was the face of one other. Ladon himself. The mighty face raised, and its eyes flashed.

_"Agni..."_ Myria whispered, in awe of the titan that had risen to rival even her power. _"He has truly... come to you."_

"I am one with Ladon." Agni agreed, his voice deep and rich. "No... I am an incarnation of Ladon himself, created by the wills of eight heroes. My existence serves one purpose. Ridding the world of you." His mighty arms flexed, and his feet pawed the floor. "You are a Goddess of Lies... but I am a God of Death. YOUR death, Myria." Agni roared, and in that roar was a million bolts of light. Myria was knocked back... but she rose again, and on her twisted features was... intrigue.

_"Ha... ha ha ha! A God of Death, you say? Ha! How interesting, how terribly terribly interesting!"_ She buckled with mirth, and her snake heads laughed with her. Agni frowned.

"You laugh? You still think this is a joke?"

_"Oh, no... you are a very real threat to me."_ Myria agreed, still grinning. _"I'm just so happy... happy to know that people like you still exist today. You change the world, no matter what you do, just by being in it... that's the only way you could pull this off. In other words... you're like me. Come on then, Agni! Let the world tremble at our coming!"_ Agni frowned... then smiled.

"NOW you're talking my language." The room around them was destroyed; despite the illusion of starry void, it had its limits, which were too much for one of the titans, let alone both of them. They now stood atop the floating fortress of Obelisk itself, soaring above the clouds for the whole world to see. And the world saw the Gods clash. Agni rushed forward, arms ourstretched, and Myria met him head-on, their arms clanging together. Palm to palm, they shoved and struggled, trying to force the other to back down. When they saw that neither of them would, they turned to other methods; Agni lowered his head and thrust, goring with his array of horns. At the same time, Myria's lower mouth opened, and a froglike black tongue lashed out as a whip, trailing acid. Both fell back a few hundred feet-a few steps for them-then looked up and smiled before charging again. This time, however, Agni ducked under Myria's grasp and grabbed one of the fangworms, twisting it violently. The other worms attacked, snapping at his sides, and the Dragon God was forced to fall back with his target only wounded, not removed.

_"Is that all you are?"_ Myria asked scornfully. She raised a hand, and a ten-foot-thick lance of ice speared her opponent through. Agni stumbled, but did not fall.

"Not at all... I've got all sorts of tricks, just like you. Here's another one!" Drawing a pair of flaming daggers out of nowhere, he spun and threw them with deadly accuracy. Both meteors of fire slammed into the wounded fangworm, which writhed once before flopping to the ground.

_"You'll pay for that one, wretch!"_ The Goddess of Lies promised furiously as her remaining fangworms opened their maws. Out from each came a blast of water, but not gentle water like a lake, or even dangerous water like a river. These high-pressure blasts of water were the kind that men had once used to tear down entire mountainsides. And yet Agni was not torn down. Reaching out again, he created a sledgehammer that crackled with electricity. Striding forward, he swung it repeatedly to knock the water aside, away from his advance. Myria's tiny eyes widened as he reached her and swung the sledge with deadly force, releasing it at the last moment to smash into her chest. The Goddess of Lies tumbled back, shrieking.

"How's THAT for a piece of work." Agni huffed, replacing the hammer with a pair of mighty claws, thicker than his arms. Rushing forward, he struck Myria as she struggled to rise again, slamming her into the ground with enough force to actually embed her there, then tearing another fangworm off and hurling it away. "Ha! They were right... I CAN win!"

_"How's THIS for right, MORTAL?"_ Myria raged, summoning a tornado that flung Agni away, skidding across Obelisk. Rising again, the Goddess of Lies swept his entire body with a lightning bolt that she wielded like a flail, striking again and again. _"Die... die... DIE!"_

"Not happening, lady!" Agni suddenly caught the bolt in one hand, then snapped it with a quick motion as he stood. Below his feet, a tidal wave rose, lifting him high into the air. The Dragon God surfed on the force of the water, holding a pike in front of him like a jousting lance, straight towards the stunned Myria. "Matter of fact, beatdowns for YOU are on sale right here and now! NO PURCHASE NECCESSARY!" The Dragon God and his weapon slammed into Myria like a meteor's impact. The pike emerged from between her shoulder blades, covered in black blood. And yet, Myria smiled.

_"Got you!"_ Her spindly arms suddenly tightened around Agni's upper body, pinning him to her as the fangworms began savaging his hindquarters. The Dragon God struggled, but to no avail. Gloating, Myria concentrated and raised chunks of the debris from around them, then slamming them into the Dragon God's unprotected back. One particularly large, pointed one pierced him through. _"YES! A fatal strike! How loudly do you strut now, my wretch?"_

"I don't strut..." Agni growled. "I just keep walking forward!" The white wings on his back suddenly began beating, creating wild currents of air and slamming into the locking arms. Shrieking, the Goddess of Lies desperately tried to keep her hold, but Agni freed one arm and instantly filled it with a rapier that he slashed her body with. Despite her efforts, she was knocked loose.

_"Damn you... so your body is as tricky as mine! Why... why won't you DIE?"_ Her palms thrust out, and two mighty flamethrower blasts were emitted, bathing Agni's head. Unconcerned, he strung a colossal bow with not arrows, but tremendous icicles. Two of them, one for each palm, shot forward and impaled the appendages.

"Why won't I die? Simple truth, missy." His eyes flashed. "I... am stronger than you."

_"You are MORTAL!"_ She howled with rage. From her upper mouth came a ball of glowing blue energy that struck Agni in the chest. With it, she directed all her hateful power, her immortal strength, willing this inmpudent mortal to die now, for his heart to stop in his chest, never to beat again, to perish... and then, to her shock, Agni opened his own maw and fired it right back into her. For a single moment, she felt her body freeze, and then she frantically forced it back into action. Agni raised an eyebrow.

"Am I now... sister. If you're a Goddess... what does that make ME?" Myria paused for a moment, as if considering it... and then the Goddess of Lies raised her shattered hands heavenward, almost as if beckoning, with the surviving fangworms turning their sightless heads upward as well, keening.

_"What does it matter what it makes you now... for in just scant moments, you will no longer exist in any form at all!"_ Agni glanced downward, startled, as the entire surface of Obelisk below him began glowing white... and then it erupted, thousands, millions of energy bolts rising upward, bearing him along in a flood of pain, of power. Upward he rose, and Myria watched him writhe, smirking in exhausted satisfaction... and then her eyes froze. The Dragon God was glowing as well. From his pain-wracked body, Agni struck back. A web of pure, impossibly bright light, streaking and crisscrossing and darting through the swarm of Myria's energy, converging on one point. Her. Myria screamed as Agni's power flowed into her, grinding her down into Obelisk, even as her own continued to drive him skyward.

"No..." Agni growled, then roared. "I WON'T DIE. This world still has need of me... but for you, it has none. Fade away and disappear, Goddess of Lies... this world will NEVER be yours." Myria glared upward, refusing to surrender, even though every pulse of energy was like a sword through her heart. A sword that Agni held, she now saw, that the light was emitted from. But that wasn't all she saw... around him, she saw the faces of the eight heroes that made him up. Snarling, she increased the energy flow from Obelisk, not caring about what would happen as a result. All that mattered was removing the hated beast above her from existence. The eight faces faltered, and began to fade, and she pressed forward in victory... but then something flickered at the edge of her vision. Turning, she saw seven tiny forms charging her head, each a different color. Involuntarily, she turned one hand to swat them away, and realized to her horror that her hand passed through them, the seven figures insubstantial wraiths. She whirled back, but it was too late; in that one moment of distraction, Agni had released the last of his power, doubling the size of his energy net. As the light rushed over her, Myria saw her own flood of death fading, Obelisk dissipating. Dimly, she saw her fangworms falling limp, losing control of arms that were no longer there. The Goddess of Lies fell apart like dust in the wind. Even as she felt herself fading away, she looked upward one last time, and saw the eight... no, the NINE faces staring down at her. The last one, the one in the center, held her attention the longest... and she smiled.

_"You think... you've won, don't you?"_ She laughed with a mouth that was already dissipating into nothing. _"You thank existence that you're finally rid of me... while sorrowing that you had to do this. I know you all too well... too well for your victory, as it turns out. Even if... I am gone... a seed has... been planted. My will... shall remain in this world, even after. Watch for it... and prepare your Light Dragons. It is coming..."_ And as the last teeth disintegrated, the stricken Goddess of Lies cried to heaven one final word that reached the farthest star. _"FATHER!"_ And then... she was gone.

There was absolute silence. Not even the wind dared to make a noise. And then Agni landed. Shrinking, he became a glowing ball of light that divided into eight seperate, exhausted forms. Only Ryu moved; he stood, and raised the Dragon Sword in one hand, and Jade's blade in the other.

"Master!" He announced to the heavens. "It is finished!"

Below them, Obelisk rumbled dangerously. Without the Goddess of Lies to power it, the flying fortress would normally fall like a stone... indeed, that was how it had lodged in the southwest mountain range, all those centuries ago. The battle of the Gods, however, had nearly split the boundaries of reality itself, and Obelisk could take no more. With the indescribable noise of ripping steel, the entire flying fortress tore itself apart, exploding into two large pieces and millions of smaller ones. The main body of the fortress went down south of Auria, slamming into the mountains there and flattening a good portion of them. The earthquakes were titanic. Another, smaller but still substantial piece landed in the northeast edge of the Desert of Arad. The rest was scattered to the winds, a million pieces of twisted metal and broken desire. All who could see it watched, breathlessly, hoping against hope to see something else... and then, they erupted in glee as a single, startlingly large pink-feathered bird winged its way out from the explosion and streaked across the sky, carving a path through the clouds themselves.


	21. Chapter 20: Never Say Goodbye

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Chapter 20: Never Say Goodbye

Scarcely months before, the city of Camlon had seen better days; most of the buildings had at least partially been broken down. Camlon wasn't exactly a big city, but it was larger than Drogen, and it had an old castle at the north end of the city overlooking it all. Now, however... everything had changed. On normal days, the buildings were tall and majestic, and the streets calm and orderly. Today, however... the entire city was in an uproar. A good one. Today, Camlon was the site of a party... a festival of the entire world. A world that had only recently been saved.

"So I tell the Admiral, you and what army, jack?" Gobi boasted, taking another drink from his mug. "And he looked around and sees that everybody but him's already been taken out. And while he's looking, I take my pike and ram it into the back of his head while kneeing him in the face. Bam! Like an exploding watermelon!"

"But I thought you said Admiral Cean was a giant crab by that point?" Tina from Gust reminded him. Gobi floundered for a moment.

"Well, yeah... but by head, I meant... where his eyestalks joined his body. And by face... I meant the front of that part. Yeah."

"Sure, Gobi." Nicholie laughed. "Tell us another one. But NOT one about horned toads." He cautioned. Gobi shrugged.

"That one's not my favorite anyways. All right then, how about the time I had to retrieve an ancient weapon? It's called a boomerang. There I was, just me against the treacherous desert of Arad..."

"Another round, folks?" Trout, Gobi's bartender friend, offered. As it turned out, his brother ran a bar in Camlon. "Trust me, they help Gobi's stories a lot."

"That's the honest truth." Gobi's cousin Nuzi agreed with him. "Take it from somebody who's heard a LOT of Gobi's stories." Gobi affected an offended face.

"Well, excuse ME. If you all have something more entertaining to do, don't let me bore you."

"Well, we COULD take a moment to watch that." Barry the Climber pointed, grinning. Gobi turned to see, down the street, Karn doing some type of funky dance. More noticable was that Captain Role and Zenny Gata from Auria were joining him, along with a very large man wearing a nametag that said "Flak" pinned to his fedora. Gobi winced and covered his eyes.

"Get me another drink, Trout... I'm going to need it." In another area of the town, another celebration had resulted in unexpected alliances. The tiny Mole Clan from the West and the huge Builder Clan of the East had discovered that they held many things in common, and many new friendships had already been developed. Elder Minos and Elder Dugron were hammering out a seperate treaty between their peoples in addition to the large mass of them taking place between all the Clans. The largest of the Builder Clanners, however, was not drinking much; he was sitting peacefully on a bench with his wife at his side, gently rocking a cloth-wrapped bundle. He smiled as two Mole Clan children ran up to them.

"Hey, Ox... evening, Mrs. Eika." Mogu tugged his snout respectfully. Ox's wife smiled at them.

"Hello, Mogu. Is this your sister?"

"Yeah, this is Anne." Mogu nodded. The young girl curtsied shyly. "Is it okay if we see her?" Ox's smile was like a sunrise.

"Of course, Mogu. Silly even to ask." Mogu and Anne climbed up onto the bench and looked down on the bundle. Inside was a tiny baby, her horns just barely beginning to develop.

"She's pretty..." Anne whispered. "What's her name?"

"Eichichi." Ox answered. "We're very proud of her... we're hoping she grows up to be a scientest. She's already smart... how many babies do you know that can dismantle their own cribs within two months?" Mogu laughed.

"That's smart, all right."

"Almost as smart as that Mote Ox told me about..." Eika smiled. Ox nudged her with an elbow as Mogu sighed.

"Yeah... like Mote..." He shook his head. "Ah well, no sense being gloomy now. Come on, Anne, let's raid the snacks! They've got veggies from all over the world!" Laughing, the Mole Clan children ran off, Mogu accidentally disemboweling a stone wall as he bumped into it with one claw. In another portion of the city, three Forest Clanners were observing another group of three... an unique one.

"I don't know, Bo." Amelia frowned. "They still don't exactly look like the sociable type."

"I told you they're on their best behavior." Bo reminded them. "Deis told them she'd turn them into cumulonimbus if they started trouble. You've met Deis. Would you want her personally angry with you?"

"Admittedly, no." Terry agreed. "Still..."

"Excuse me." A voice said nervously. The Forest Clanners turned to see the three spirits of Wisdon whom they had been discussing hovering nearby. Wisp flickered. "May... we engage in... friendly dialogue with you?"

"Er..." Amelia froze. Myst rolled his eyes.

"Ugh... this isn't working. We never should have come to this-"

"Hey, hey!" Deis swooped down on them, a bottle larger than her head in her hand. "You three making friends? Good! Wisdon's got to have more P.R. with the outside world, like I told you! Just make sure it's GOOD P.R., or else...!" Waving her cane threateningly, she strolled off through the crowds, singing some millenia-old bawdy chant. Terry stared after her for a moment.

"Scary lady."

"Now THERE, we have some common ground." Cloud agreed. Bo looked at them both.

"Ah, she's not so bad. And besides, she has embarrassing moments like anybody else."

"Embarrassing moments?" Amelia asked. Myst turned to face Bo.

"I'd like to hear this too."

"Well..." Bo warmed up. "There was this time when we were sneaking into Scande..." The others listened raptly as he went on. Around the center of the city, however, things were rowdier; there, you could barely hear anybody talking specifically through all the general-and very loud-communication. Ryu and Nina extricated themselves from the mess and sneaked off towards a quieter spot.

"Whew... this is quite a party." Nina wiped her brow. "You're pretty popular in Camlon, to say the least."

"We all are." Ryu shrugged. "And in the rest of the world. Camlon, though... this was the first place aside from Drogen I really solved any problems on the trip. It's pretty natural that the party would be held here. I'm just glad everybody could make it here. And I'm glad the Dark Dragons were accepted as well as they were."

"I think the rulers had some talks with their subjects about that before hand... some very specific talks." Nina guessed. "Empress Victoria seems like a nice girl, though... no traces of her father's insanity. But she'll be a good ruler... if anybody can mend the Dark Dragons' ties with the rest of the world, it's her."

"I'm glad that you feel that way, Princess Nina." A quiet female voice said from nearby. Ryu and Nina both turned to see the Empress of the Dark Dragons standing nearby, with a young man in General's armor next to her. Nina blushed.

"Your majesty, I didn't know-"

"That's all right." Victoria smiled shyly. "We can't be creatures of court our entire lives, can we?" Her face grew somber. "Sir Ryu... I wanted to tell you something. It was going to be in private, but this is close enough."

"Is it about... your father?" Ryu guessed. The Empress nodded.

"Correct. My father... Emperor Zog... was an insane man. I knew this. He was an evil man to most people... but to me, he was always kind... and brutally honest, even about himself. He made sure I knew what he was... so that I would not be like him, when he passed on the throne to me. He told me something once. His dream of conquering the world... as you know, it grew out of a different dream in his youth, of the world unified... working as one. That dream will likely be fulfilled, if it is not already... but even that grew out of something else. His first dream... when he was but a child... was simply to see the Dragon Clan respected by all once more. That, also... has come to pass." She bowed formally. "Ryu... I think if my father could see this now... he would be content." Turning, she walked away. The General smirked.

"Icy little thing, I know... but we're trying to thaw her out. Let's hope it works, eh? See you around Sir Ray-oop, I mean Ryu!" Ryu waved back as the General followed his Empress. 

"See you later too, Johnny." He turned to Nina. "All things considered, the Dark Dragons could have turned out a lot worse."

"Yeah." Nina giggled. "Although I think the Empress kind of likes you, boss."

"Really?" Ryu shrugged. "Unfortunately, she's not my type. Besides... I think I'm already spoken for..." He fell silent, and Nina said nothing either. As they sat there, another man ran up, this one much older.

"Ryu! Princess!" King Firdan puffed. "Whew... haven't got it like I used to. Come to the main square, please! It's time for the unveiling!"

"What unveiling?" Ryu blinked, but they followed him back anyways. All the partygoers were gathered around a tarp-covered lump in the center of the city. The other six heroes were facing it, and the rulers of the lands were surrounding it, each holding a string. Ryu and Nina joined the group, and Firdan took his place as well.

"Ahem..." He coughed. "We, the rulers of the civilized world... hereby wish to thank Ryu of Drogen, Princess Nina of Winlan, Bo of the Forest Clan, Karn of Bleak, Gobi of Prima, Ox of Gant, Deis of Wisdon and Mogu of Gramor for, well... for saving the civilized world, eliminating a threat to all our continued existence, and many other services too numerous to list. This is a gift from all of us... you shall hereby be remembered as the Eight Heroes for all eternity." The rulers pulled the strings. Gobi's jaw unhinged. Glittering in the sunlight were eight life-size golden statues, carved to perfectly resemble each of them.

"Are those... solid?" The Maniro whispered. Karn coughed.

"Easy there, Gobi. Even _I_ probably couldn't steal those puppies. Just look at them." Any response from Gobi was lost in the following cheer from all parties involved, and the heroes were drawn back into the crowd, which commenced partying twice as hard as before.

Several days later, there was another gathering... this one much smaller. The eight heroes walked across the Winlan Bridge alone, Ryu carrying a large package. When they reached the east end of the bridge, they stopped and walked south, to the edge of the cliffs. There, they stood and silently waited for the sun to set. When the sky was a beautiful gold-touched red, Ryu opened the package he carried and placed the objects inside on the ground. A monocle of bright ruby... a purple scrap of cloth that had once been the hood of a robe... a pure white Dark Dragon General's cape... a huge, star-carved sledgehammer... a shining crown that reflected the sunset... an emerald pendant, of the kind worn by Priests of Ladon... and a powerful sword, more deadly even than the one Ryu had recieved from Ladon. The last remains of the Tiamat Unit lay on the ground in front of the heroes. Nobody spoke. Finally, Ryu gathered the objects again, then with one swift motion, cast them out over the cliffs. They sparkled in the light for a brief moment as they fell, and then they hit the ocean water, and were lost forever. Even the hood and cape, which would normally float, sank instantly. Again, nobody spoke... they simply looked into the sunset. Seven young people looked back. A tall, thin young man with pale skin and a mop of unruly black hair. Another man, much larger and wider, with black hair worn longer down his back. In his arms, a tiny infant with blood-red skin like the man holding him. A beautiful young woman in armor too large for her, with long blonde hair. A second woman, this one wearing priestess' robes, her own hair a soft blue. A gangly-looking prince with dyed red hair and a trim goatee, and the eyes of a dreamer. And a familiar man with long blonde hair and a smile on his face, who had not aged visibly in fifteen years and thus looked exactly as they had known him. The seven spirits waved, and then faded away, lost in the wind. The eight heroes remained there, watching the sky and the sea until the sun was completely gone and the only light came from the moon and the stars. None of them were surprised when, at that point, another person stumped up and joined them.

"Hey, kids." Grand High Priest Spekkio greeted them. The old man was still wearing his tramp clothes. "A little dragon told me I could find you here. I've got a message for you... really, it's for Ryu, but it applies to all of you, to be honest."

"Who's it from?" Nina asked, although she already knew the answer. Spekkio gave her a direct look.

"A young gal I knew once... a Priestess named Sara. She said to tell you... she's proud of you, kid. They all are. Just when Myria thought she had it all, you flipped the tables on her completely and paid her back for everything they went through. They watched the entire thing, you know, and they're happy now... so they're heading on. Everything's finished for them now... they're probably already gone for good."

"It's finally over for them..." Nina sighed. "It's not really fair, you know... they were the ones who really suffered the most from all this. And yet, our names are the ones that will go down in the history books, while they have almost everybody in the world cursing their names even now, no matter what we say." Spekkio sighed as well.

"Yeah, well... there's an old proverb that we in Ladon's service try to remember for situations like this."

"What's that?" Ox asked.

"Life sucks, and then you die." The old man thought about it for a moment. "Well, most of us, anyways. What it means is, bad things happen, and sometimes you can't change that. You just have to keep throwing your best at the ones you can. That's just the way it works."

"Believe me... that's one thing we've figured out." Ryu assured him. "Anyways... while you're here, could you take another message? This one to your boss?" Spekkio nodded.

"Might as well. What is it?" Ryu silently handed him a pack off his back. The Grand High Priest looked inside. The Dragon Sword, Armor, Helmet and Shield were in there... along with the robes and pendant Ryu had recieved upon unlocking his Rudra form. The message was clear. "Kid... you saying..."

"I'm afraid so." Ryu sighed. "Tell him I'm sorry, but it just can't work. Even if Myria was moving most of the chess pieces... he was doing a fair hand of it himself. The life of a priest isn't for me. I probably won't even go into a Dragon Temple very often any more. He has my respect... but not my worship. Not any more. Guess I'm kind of burned out on immortals after all this." Spekkio stared at him for a moment... then chuckled.

"Believe it or not, kid... I know exactly where you're coming from. There was a time when I was young, I felt exactly the same way. I think that's WHY I got this position; even he needs somebody to talk to who'll call him on it when he's being an idjit. Got a pretty good sense of humor, really, Ladon does. Not like some other immortals I know."

"About that..." Ox frowned. "She... said something. A seed has been planted or somesuch..."

"Yeah, there's that." Spekkio exhaled angrily. "Believe me, we're on it... but we can't act directly. We NEVER get to act directly. It gets pretty damn annoying, to be honest. In all likelihood, it'll fall to your descendant to deal with that, Ryu... but keep your sword sharp, just in case. You never know. Any more questions?"

"Is she..." Mogu hesitated. "Is she really dead? Did we actually kill an immortal?" Spekkio thought for a moment.

"Well... I'll be honest with you, kid. I don't know... and neither does Ladon. He has no idea at all... not even an inkling. If you think about it, that's pretty scary by itself. Is that it?" The others nodded. "Well, I'll be off then... got to take all this stuff back." He looked at the Dragon Equipment fondly. "I still got a bit of a soft spot for this stuff... I'll make sure to take care of it. That's one of my duties. Doubt I could fit into it again now, though... been far too long since I wore it." Ryu's eyes widened.

"Since YOU...wait. You never told us if Spekkio was your real name... you just said it was the one you used right now. Are you..."

"I'd file that one under 'questions best left NOT answered' if I were you, kid." Spekkio grunted, turning away towards the Winlan Bridge. "Sometimes, uncertainty is best. Nice seeing you again, Deis... and good luck, all of you." After he stumped off, the eight heroes sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the waves break against it for a while. Finally, Nina spoke.

"I suppose we should probably get back to our homes soon... we all have things our people need us to do." The others all mumbled an agreement.

"Geez... don't we ever get a break?" Karn complained loudly. Bo glared at him pointedly.

"You just GOT a break. The party, remember?"

"He's got a point." Gobi grinned. "Oh, boss. Speaking of things to do... don't forget, you still owe me money." Karn, face expressionless, knocked him into the ocean. Everybody laughed, even Gobi once he ran out of curse words and Nina flew him back up. And then they turned and walked back across the Winlan Bridge.

Around the world, a bird flew. A startlingly large, pink-feathered bird with seven friends riding on its back, winging across the sky along the northern coastline.

"Hey, look at Pagoda." Bo yelled. Inexplicably, the Forest Clanner had finally gotten over his fear of heights, and he now enjoyed the view as much as any of them. "The towers are gone!"

"They would be." Deis nodded. "They were tied to Myria herself... that was part of the reason she couldn't just muscle her way out. When she went bang, they did too... kind of like Obelisk, but moreso."

"Speaking of Obelisk, did you hear what the Aradians are doing?" Karn asked the others. "They're going to go check out that piece of Obelisk that landed near the desert... they might even move in. That might cause problems."

"If it does, we'll handle it." Ox shrugged. "Handling 'problems' like that is pretty much our entire career by now."

"There is no such thing as only one career, Ox." Gobi remarked with a pained look on his face. "Plus, I can't exactly blame the Aradians for wanting to move to higher ground out of that place."

"Hey, don't diss my homeland." Deis growled, mock-indignantly. Ryu smiled, but said nothing. They were all making small talk even more than usual; none of them wanted to bring up what they all knew they were doing. And then Gramor came into view, and Nina touched down. Everybody went inside, where the Mole Clan were waiting.

"Mogu!" Anne smiled. "Are you back here for good now?" Mogu nodded.

"Yeah... I'm here to stay." He turned back to the others. "Well... looks like this is it. It's..." He smiled. "Well, heck. It's been a blast."

"You've got that right, kid." Ox shook his claw. "You come visit soon, hear? You come too, miss Anne... Eichichi likes you both."

"They will." Elder Dugron assured him. "Mogu will need to maintain strong ties with the other Clans... after all, he will be the leader of ours after I am gone." The other seven heroes stared.

"You will?" Nina demanded. "You never told us, Mogu!"

"It didn't seem that important at the time." Mogu shrugged. "Besides, I'm not very good at acting the part. Greeting foreign leaders properly and all that never really clicked with me." The Princess giggled.

"You think it's any less awkward for me? It's so boring it'll make you sick, all the formalities. Fortunately, these days we usually don't have to go through them ALL."

"That's a relief." The young Mole Clanner nodded. "Well, I'll see you all around!"

"Most of us, anyways..." Deis muttered to herself a bit sadly as they left. Bo glanced at her, but didn't comment. They boarded Nina again and took off, going southwest. It wasn't too long before they reached Gant; the Great Bird travelled at insane speeds and made it all seem natural. As they walked into town, Ox's wife and daughter met them immediately.

"We saw you flying up." She explained, kissing her husband. "I think Eichichi likes the pretty birdy."

"We like her pretty well ourselves." Ryu smiled. "Have fun with the family life, Ox."

"Oh, yes." Ox laughed, taking the baby. "If what I've heard is true, in six months memories of a kamakaze assault on Scande will look dull by comparison."

"Probably." Gobi nodded. "Why do you think I never got married?"

"Well, aside from the obvious..." Karn deadpanned, then dodged a kick. Eika shook her head.

"Ox, tell me this hasn't rubbed off on you."

"I like to think I'm still the sane one of the group." Ox assured her. "See you later, guys." From Gant, it was only a short distance to the nearest beach, which deposited them within walking distance of Prima.

"So, what are you going to do now, Gobi?" Karn asked as they walked in, largely unnoticed by the busy Maniros. Gobi shrugged and glanced at Deis for a moment.

"Well, there's that idea we were throwing around... but before that, I figure I'll lay in some small, light but valuable stock and try the life of a traveling salesman. With my rep, I should get far richer than I already am. You should be able to find me pretty easily when you're ready to go." Karn chuckled.

"You never stop, do you?"

"Do you really expect me to?" The fat Maniro chuckled back, then turned solemn. "Actually... there's something I want to say. This is really painful, and I hope you all know how much this means. Boss..."

"Yeah?" Ryu asked simply. Gobi clapped him on the shoulder.

"Forget the debt. It's dropped. You've more than paid me back... in a currency so valuable it can't even go on the same exchange rate as gold." He thought for a moment. "Okay, at an insanely high exchange rate." Surprisingly, Karn didn't comment; he simply shook Gobi's hand, and then they left, waving. The next stop was Wisdon; fortunately, it seemed Deis was able to stop the moving town at a mental command, since they had left the Statue who-knew-where. Returning to the inner sanctum, Deis moved back onto her bed.

"You're going back to sleep, aren't you." Nina said, a little sadly. It wasn't a question. Deis nodded somberly.

"Yeah... and not I'm not talking about just a nap. It's what I do... the next time I wake up, you'll all be long gone, and I'll have to help your descendant save the world, Ryu. For what it's worth... I don't remember any other group I had as much fun with as you guys. It was... nice."

"Before you go... there's something I've been wondering about." Ryu admitted. "Myria... she's your sister. And the two of you have made numerous references to your father... Myria even shouted the word at Agni when she died... at least I think she did. But she's a Goddess, which I think means you are too... so, your dad..."

"What was it that old man who calls himself Spekkio now said..." Deis smirked. "Questions best left NOT answered, I think it was... that's another one of those." Ryu laughed.

"Right. Forget I even asked."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your sleep." Bo smiled. "We'll be out having fun while you are, of course. Me, Karn and Gobi have been talking about another little adventure in a year or two."

"Really?" Deis yawned widely, already settling down. "Well, knowing you three you'll blow something important up and become wanted in every Land in the world."

"Not THAT kind of adventure." Bo continued, apparently oblivious. "We're going back up to Pagoda... look around what's left, and set up a kind of secret base of operations for our group there. There are all sorts of crazy rumors about what residual magic from Myria has done to that place."

"Probably true..." Deis muttered absently, closing her eyes. "That kind of thing will leave a mark... magically speaking."

"Yeah... they even say that if you hang around there for long enough, you'll stop getting old." Bo glanced at the ceiling. "That the aging process stops affecting you, and you'll stay the same no matter how many years... decades... even centuries... you stay there." There was a moment in which nobody moved... and then Deis' eyes snapped wide open.

"Are you..."

"I was never really big on the whole dying eventually no matter what you do thing anyways." Karn remarked cheerfully. "Bo and Gobi feel the same way, and maybe we'll even be able to persuade these other sad sacks to try it too."

"It's a long shot... like I said, just rumors." Bo shrugged, overly casual. "But the next time you do wake up... look in on the island anyways. You never know... everybody needs some friends who stick around, after all." Slowly, the Legendary Sorceress of Wisdon let a broad, grateful smile cross her ageless face.

"...Yeah. I'll do that." She closed her eyes again, and the others turned to leave. "And hey..." They paused. "Thanks, guys... for everything." Ryu inclined his head, and they walked out. North they flew next, to Bleak.

"Home, sweet home." Karn gazed happily over the barrels full of flaming garbage, very large men lurking in dark alleys and a truly astonishing amount of variations on the common knife. "I love Bleak."

"So, you'll be bringing the other Fusion Clanners back here?" Ryu inquired. Karn nodded.

"Most of them. One's already here, but I'll be bringing Pardus and the other two here, yeah. They'll fit right in, especially when it gets out they're of my Clan. The Dark Dragon Empire's officially dropped all animosity against any survivors, so they don't need to hide any more... Cerl's not going to do anything to them ever again." His eyes grew distant for a moment, and then he shook his head. "Won't be bringing her here, though... she and Alan wouldn't like it. Their new lives should be as different from the old ones as possible."

"I saw Cerl again a few days ago, actually." Nina admitted. "After that ritual Jade put her through, the 'old Cerl' in her mind has pretty much vanished... by now, there's probably not even a trace. It's for the best."

"Yeah... although sorting it out might cause Ladon some problems sixty, eighty years down the line." Bo commented.

"Well, that's why I'm glad I don't have his job." Karn grinned. "Party hearty, guys. I know I will. Matter of fact, I think I'll look up a few girls I know around here right now about that." He strolled off, whistling something as he went. The remaining three only flew a short distance north; they touched down a fair distance from Tantar, near the volcano where the Stone Robot laid, eternally sealed beneath the hardened magma.

"Seems like forever since then..." Bo sighed as they stood there, glancing up at it. "I still remember seeing you two for the first time, up against General Folage... had no idea how things would turn out with you, though." Ryu nodded.

"And now we're back here again to say goodbye."

"NEVER say goodbye." Bo told him firmly. "That's one thing I've learned, and I'm older than you are. It's never goodbye unless somebody's dead... and as we've seen, sometimes not even then."

"He's got a point." Nina agreed. "We'll be seeing everybody again all the time, you know."

"It won't be the same, though, will it?" Ryu asked. Bo frowned.

"No, not entirely... but hell, it'll be close enough. Nobody ever promised us easy, you know."

"THAT, I know all too well." Ryu gave in, smiling. He pumped the Forest Clanner's hand. "All right then. No goodbyes. I'll see you later, Bo." Bo grinned, shaking Nina's hand as well.

"Right then, I'll leave you two alone..." He looked gravely at them both. "And remember... in the end, any choices you make are entirely up to you. Don't think you have to make the wrong decision because somebody else tells you." Ryu and Nina smiled and nodded, then turned and walked away, to the west.

Now that they were alone, Ryu and Nina did not fly to Winlan; they took the long way and walked, for several days. During those days, they talked happily about small, unimportant things, as well as what their respective homes would want them to do once they got back... endless affairs of state for Nina, endless backbreaking work repairing the town of Drogen for Ryu. They never did settle the argument about whose would be more painful. They simply enjoyed each others' company, and steadfastly stayed away from the topic that truly remained strongest on both their minds. And then one day at sunrise, they crossed the Winlan bridge. Before they entered the city, they stopped and spent a few moments doing nothing but looking at each others' eyes.

"Bo said to never say goodbye." Nina remembered. Ryu nodded.

"He did... and it won't be goodbye. We'll see each other... like all the others. All the time."

"It won't be the same." Nina threw Ryu's own words back at him.

"I know." The Light Dragon admitted. "Nina... you know what I want. But... it's your call." Nina looked at him for a moment more, then looked away.

"You know what my call is."

"I do." Ryu agreed sadly. "Then... let's go in, and I'll greet your parents... and then I'll head home." The Wing Clan Princess kissed him once, and then they walked inside. The King and Queen were happy to see them both, and treated Ryu with a great deal of respect, offering to have him stay for a few days in the castle. Ryu politely declined, pleading that he needed to get back to his hometown and help them rebuild. Within the hour, he was on his way again. Nina stood on a balcony in the castle, watching him walk until he had vanished from her view.

It took three days for Ryu to reach Drogen, stopping only for a brief visist with King Firdan of Camlon. As he approached, he looked at the small town as he had been too preoccupied to when preparing for the assault on Obelisk. The Light Dragons had been rebuilding well; the wall around the town was completely repaired, and at least half the houses were mostly fixed up. The Dragon Temple had been restored to a shining brightness. Around town, everybody was working, with Theo and Esma calling out directions. As Ryu walked in through the front gate, however, everything ground to a halt. The Light Dragons turned to look at their hero, who smiled and set aside his sword.

"I'm home." Ryu announced.

In one land and another, from east to west, the world above rejoiced. Peace had come to it at last... universal peace, with no threat remaining. No visible threat. But that was the world above. Unbeknownst to any, save those few who served Ladon, there was another world... a world below. A world Myria had commanded... a world she had summoned demons from, to guard her mighty flying fortress Obelisk. But those demons she had summoned had not been the entire population... nay, they had only been a scant few. And now that she was gone, the many, many remaining demons that lived unknown and unseen beneath the world... were discontented.

"She is gone." One demon, a dragon with its outer skin removed, all white bone and pulsing muscle, told the others he was cloistered with. "Whether she is truly dead, or simply driven farther away than any of us can comprehend, the fact remains. Our Goddess, our worship, has left us... and she will not be coming back any time soon."

"Perhaps you are right, Counciller Necromanson." Another demon, this one a mass of tentaclelike vines and roots, with two crablike claws and a face centered in a poisonous red flower, admitted. "But yet, we must not say as such to the general public... we must keep the hopes in their minds up, in order to maintain our control over them. To the populace, at least, we have to maintain that Myria will return and guide us once more."

"Counciller Aruhameral is a dreamer." Necromanson snarled, but it was subdued. A third demon growled.

"He's right, Necromanson. We have to tell them that, no matter what we believe ourselves." His five whiplike, tufted pink tails thrashed angrily, a strange contrast to his purple-scaled reptilian bulk and fierce green mane. "Now that that's settled, we should decide what we shall do aside from keeping the people behind us. With Myria gone, we cannot simply lie in wait for her to be freed again and to summon us to do her bidding. We all saw where THAT got those of us unlucky enough to be chosen."

"What would Counciller Kuwadora suggest, then?" Aruhameral demanded sibilantly. "Declaring war on the world above?"

"That's exactly what I was going to suggest, Aruhameral." Kuwadora grinned, showing more teeth than an extended family reunion of alligators. "They're complacent... relaxed... lazy. They think they've won it all... that there's no threat to them left in existence. We should strike now, catch them off guard... and then the both worlds, the world below and the world above, will be OURS!"

"Has Counciller Kuwadora perhaps injured his head lately?" Necromanson snorted. "Or perhaps he was dropped as a whelp? Drop-kicked, even? Your mental abilities aren't normally held in high regard, Kuwadora, but this takes the prize. In case you hadn't noticed, the world above is ALSO completely unified as one whole right now... even the Dark Dragons. And, of course, there's the fact that the world above is about ten times the size of our world. Admittedly, we demons are much more powerful than the average aboveworlder, but not enough to alter the balance. The only thing preventing them from squashing us like Slimes is that they don't even know we exist... even those 'heroes,' with the accursed Deis asleep again, have most likely forgotten us. And not ALL of us are stupid enough to just throw away out advantage like that."

"Watch it, Necromanson..." Kuwadora's mane rose, and his eyes flashed. Aruhameral raised his claws.

"You watch it, Kuwadora. Much as I loathe to admit it, Necromanson's right this time. It would be suicidal to make ourselves known to the world above, let alone attack them... for now. We must bide our time and wait before we can even consider that course of action." Kuwadora slumped, muttering to himself. None of the three spoke for a few moments, and then the one who had remained silent thus far, the only female demon on the council, raised her voice.

"What of the seed of evil?" She hissed. Her body was long, red and sepentine, currently curled up in a pile with her torso rising from it. Her claws flexed abently, and her scarecrowlike face twitched with annoyance at the others. "Have you all forgotten our Goddess' words on the subject?"

"Of course we haven't, Counciller Shupukay." Necromanson sighed. "Haven't you noticed that Lord Habaruku isn't here? He's still searching for it."

"Very well." Shupukay's eyes grew cunning. "In the meantime, while Counciller Kuwadora's suggestion was idiotic..." Kuwadora growled again. "There is an idea related to it we may wish to pursue. Doubtless not every aboveworlder is all that altruistic. Perhaps if we send out spies, we may locate some few who would turn their backs on their kind to aid us..."

"Counciller Shupukay may be on to something there." Aruhameral admitted. "There would not be many, of course... we would have to find those with at least some power over others... who can be trusted, at least when given motivation beyond their dreams... and who are, of course, quite thoroughly evil."

"If we offer to change them into lower-class demons..." Kuwadora continued thoughtfully. "It might just work..." Further discussion was cut short as the doors to the meeting room banged open. The four councillers glared at them, wondering who dared interrupt them. It was an older demon in voluminous robes, orange-skinned, his face like an octopus. His eyes were filled with a cruelty and hatred even beyond the four councillers, and yet he held a bundle of black cloth carefully... almost even caringly. The councillers bowed reluctantly.

"Oh... it's you, Lord Habaruku." Shupukay sighed. "Pity... I was looking forward to eating the fool who thought it would be a good idea to barge in here."

"Shut up, Shupukay." Habaruku said absently as he walked past the four of them, to the completely dark back of the room. Stopping in front of it, he bowed on one knee with utmost respect. "Your majesty... I have found it." The councillers drew back, startled. From the darkness, high above Habaruku, a single red eye opened... vast and vertical, slitted like a cat's, with its lids on its sides. The eye stared down at the black cloth bundle held by Habaruku, and then two more like it opened, to the sides and halfway lower than the first.

"This is it, then?" The owner of the eyes rumbled. "This is the seed of evil? This... is the son of Myria?" Habaruku nodded.

"Yes, King Barubary. There is no mistaking it... look upon him for yourself." He uncovered the bundle so that only Barubary could see, and the three huge red eyes contracted in surprise.

"Ah... indeed. You are correct as always, Habaruku... this is undoubtably him. Does he have a name?"

"He is called Evans, your majesty." Habaruku told him. There was a moment of silence, and then one horribly large appendage reached out from King Barubary. It was covered in a purple plate of chitinous armor, like that of an insect, with hooked, rending claws at its end. On one of those claws was a circlet of blackened, ruined gold, engraved with scenes of violence and death. The claw dropped the circlet gently onto the bundle, and the councillers gasped.

"Your majesty...?" Kuwadora wondered.

"No." Barubary denied. "Never address me by that title again. We have a new King, far greater than I... he is Evans, and he shall be both King and God to the demons. I shall be his right hand, and Habaruku shall be his left, and we shall raise him to the glory and grandeur that is his by birthright. And when the time comes, he shall lead our armies to the world above... and none shall stand in the way of GOD!" Low, quaking laughter came from beneath the glowing red eyes. Habaruku laughed as well, his own voice higher, more hysterical. After a moment, the other four councillers joined in.

"You know..." Habaruku remarked, pausing in his hilarity for a moment and looking at his ruler and his four underlings around him. "I have a sudden urge to corrupt a Dragon Clanner." This made the others laugh even harder. The bundle in Habaruku's arms stirred a bit, then pulled the black cloth back over itself, feeling like a nap and completely unfazed by the hideous laughter around him. The laughter poured out of the hall and echoed throughout every cavern in the world below, and every demon who heard it shivered involuntarily.

It would be a very long time indeed before all traces of that laughter had faded from the world below.


	22. Epilogue & Author's Note

****

Epilogue

King Gwyn of Winlan was working late. The only bad thing about the current state of affairs was that it meant paperwork... lots and lots of paperwork, and the greatest mass of it was for the rulers. He could delegate a lot of it to various advisors, but there was still plenty that he had to deal with personally. Finally, five hours after sunset, he put his stamp on the last one for the evening. There would be more in the morning, of course, but for now at least he was done. His wife had already turned in; the King started to fly towards their chambers, then paused. Before he went to sleep, he would look in on his daughter one more time. No matter how many times he saw her, he had been unable to get used to her being back home, safe and sound, and the heroine of the civilized world. For some inexplicable reason, King Gwyn kept having the strange notion that one day she would be gone again, simply vanished off across the world once more. Nina HAD been acting strange, the King mused to himself as his old wings carried him down the hall. She had been bright and cheery when talking to people, but when she thought nobody was watching her, her face would turn melancholy, and she would stare out the nearest available window to the southwest. The only explanation Gwyn could think of was that she somehow felt guilty about the complete destruction of Scande. It wasn't anything approaching her fault, of course; SHE hadn't told the idiots to resurrect Myria, and after all, how daft did you have to be to build your city on something like Obelisk in the first place? But Gwyn supposed that young girls were like that.

"She'll get over it eventually." Gwyn told himself. "She always does with things like this... ah, she'll be a fine queen. Might have some trouble finding her a husband, though... most noble lads tend to be a bit nervous about a wife who can kill them in armed combat with both hands tied behind her wings." Muttering to himself, the King approached Nina's door. He rapped on it once to see if she was awake, then gently pushed it open. His eyes widened. The room was empty; her bed was unoccupied, and the window was flying open, the wind blowing freely in. "What..." Behind him, the Queen walked up, yawning.

"What is it, dear... oh." She took in the situation at a glance. "So she's gone, then... I was wondering when she would. Didn't actually say anything to her, of course, but I knew she'd do it..." King Gwyn turned to his wife.

"You know where Nina is? What is she doing?"

"Come on, dear." The Queen took his arm. "I'll explain it to you on the way to bed... you'll need your sleep. There's going to be even more paperwork soon... you might have to look into changing a very old law..." King Gwyn gave in and followed her, shutting the door to Nina's room behind him. And yet in there, the wind still blew through the open window.

In Drogen, to the southwest of Winlan, the sun soon rose. In the largest house in town, newly repaired, a young Light Dragon named Ryu was preparing for the day ahead. It would be a tough one, but satisfying; they were going to put the roof back on the local general store. Slipping on his cape, he walked past his grandparents cooking breakfast, and opened the door to look at the sunrise. His breath caught in his chest. Standing before him, in front of his house, was a beautiful girl of the Wing Clan his own age, with blonde hair and light pink wings.

"Nina...?" He whispered, barely believing his own eyes.

"Ryu." She answered. "I'm glad I got here before you started working today..."

"You're here..." Ryu shook his head. "Nina... did you... why?"

"Back in Winlan... after you left... I thought about it." Nina explained, approaching him firmly. "All of it. About us... about what the others said... about what really mattered. I thought about you, Ryu."

"And what did you decide?" Ryu asked gently, although he already knew the answer by her being here.

"I decided... I decided that... oh, Ryu..." Losing it, Nina ran forward and embraced him. "Forget the rules... screw the laws... to hell with what anybody else will think. I don't care about any of that... not when compared to you. Ryu... I love you. Please... stay with me."

"For now, and forever... as long as you wish." Ryu kissed her. They held it for several long moments before releasing and looking into each others' eyes. Ryu made a sort of wry smile.

"Well, so much for my staying away from Ladon..."

"What do you mean?" Nina asked, smiling as well.

"Well, who else is going to marry us?" He reasoned. Nina's eyes grew mischevious.

"Well, I hear there's a new cult in Prima... the Church of the King. We could try going to them, I suppose." Ryu frowned; a feeling of darkness had come over him at the mention of it, a feeling of strange, utter dread and inexplicable horror...

"The one where they all wear white leather, pompadours and mirrored sunglasses?" He asked incredulously.

"That's the one." Nina giggled. The Light Dragon made a rude noise.

"No, thanks. I'll take the I-told-you-sos from Ladon any day. There are some things that are just too horrible even to contemplate."

"Worse than Myria?" Nina teased. He nodded gravely, then broke and laughed before kissing her again. Behind them, Ryu's grandparents smiled.

"Looks like we'll have another set of hands around here tomorrow." Esma guessed. Theo nodded.

"Yep... although they'll both be gone for today. They'll be back to help out tomorrow, and until it's all done, though... they're good kids."

"We'll probably lose Ryu for at least half of each year, and more later on, though." Esma continued. "He'll have to play the noble at court with her... I worry for Winlan's court."

"He has to grow up and leave home one of these days." Theo reminded her. "Already did, really. Gwyn won't be happy, though."

"No, but he'll agree to it in the end." Esma said with certainty. "He's not stupid, just a bit silly... and he knows his daughter. That girl's strong-willed... a good match for Ryu."

"They'll do well together." Theo agreed. "We'll get some interesting great-grandkids, that much is certain." Both of them smiled as they heard the rush of wings leaving the ground, and they turned back to their breakfast.

Above the Forest of Despair... above the Thieves' Paradise, Bleak... above the Undersea Marketplace, Prima... above the mountain town of Gant... above the Wasteland of Gramor... even above the mobile ruins of Wisdon... the sound of huge, beating wings was heard. Most people looked up in surprise and wonder, but some scant few looked up instead with smiles on their faces, muttering, "It's about TIME." Their neighbors gave them odd looks, but they simply continued watching and smiling in satisfaction at what they saw.

They saw a Great Bird of the Wing Clan and a mighty dragon known as Rudra, flying together side by side across one horizon to the next, from sunrise to sunset, from one edge of the world to the other. They flew as if they would never let stop, as if their wings would carry them forever, never tiring.

Indeed, in a way... perhaps they would.

****

Author's Note

"Well, I'm glad THAT's all over with." Deis sighed with relief, watching the Great Bird and the Rudra wing overhead. "I was starting to worry. So that's it, right? I can go to sleep for real now?"

"Not quite." The battered old man sitting next to her shook his head. The two of them were on the roof of the largest building in Wisdon. Below them, the three spirits and the three High Priests moved around, doing various small jobs. "There's still one thing left. HE's coming by."

"Oh, lord." Deis rolled her eyes. "We made it THIS far without anything of the sort... couldn't you talk him out of it?"

"I tried." Grand High Priest Spekkio lifted his hands helplessly. "Believe me, I tried. But he refused to change his mind, or even compromise. You know how he gets about these things."

"Do I ever." Deis muttered something rude under her breath. "I just hope he behaves better than he did with Samus and Crono."

"From what Horzat and my namesake have told me, he was actually pretty decent for those." Spekkio told her. "Public appearances and all that, I guess. Even he knows how to act for these."

"Just as long as we keep him far, far away from the grape soda." The Sorceress of Wisdon sighed resignedly. "Oh well, might as well get it over with. When is he getting here, anyways?"

"About twenty seconds ago." The man behind them remarked cheerfully. Deis and Spekkio both spun around, startled. The newcomer was a tall man with pale skin and long blue hair. He wore a casual tunic and leggings, as well as a long black cloak, and a pair of sunglasses hid his eyes. "Thank you for that absolutely sparkling introduction. I'm sure the readers are thrilled."

"Oh, shut up and do this already." Deis grumbled. "I'm losing valuable nap time here."

"Stop trying to out-grump me." The strange man chuckled. "It won't work. I probably should get to work, though." He glanced at some paper he held. "Right, here's the typical disclaimer to start. Breath Of Fire, all its characters, places, etc., are not my property and I, Magus523, make no claims to them. However, all original material such as 'Uncle Specs' here..." He inclined his head towards Spekkio, who coughed. "As well as this novelization itself, are my intellectual property legally, so don't get any dumb ideas about trying to take them under your own name. I'm a lawyer's son, so I know what I'm talking about when I can guarantee pain in your future if you try. A LOT of pain." He checked another paper, then grunted in annoyance. "Might as well clear this up too. This does NOT qualify as friggin' self-insertion. It's the blasted Author's Note! I just hope nobody actually DOES get all indignant about this. My opinions of my own species are low enough as it is."

"You were saying something about not being grumpy?" Deis remarked lightly. The blue-haired man growled something about snakes, then looked at another piece of paper.

"Yeah, yeah... moving on, as per rules and regulations, some changes have been made between the original manuscript and what you're reading right now. Specifically, the Epilogue and Author's Note are combined in one section, and character profiles I put at the end of each chapter have been removed. Plus, as MANY people have noticed, they remove my section breaks when I upload." He rolled his eyes. "Believe me, people, I KNOW. I have yet to figure out anything way to fix that. If and when I ever get my own website, those changes will not be implemented in the version of this that goes up there. In other words, it'll be better. While I'm at it, I'll officially state my hearty disapproval for current stifling and needless policies, the no-life-even-by-internet-standards toadies who spend their time sniffing through archives for the tiniest infraction they can report, and REMOVING MY GODDAMN SCENE BREAKS WHEN I UPLOAD. That's all, just a statement of disapproval; as far as I know, they haven't made complaining about them illegal. Yet. They're not THAT dumb. Yet."

"We get the picture." Spekkio tilted his hat to keep the sun out of his eyes. "Enough, already."

"Why do I tolerate backtalk from my own creations..." The strange man asked himself. "Onward, right. Some thank-yous are in order. First, Capcom. Despite their lackluster rerelease of BOF1 for the GBA, their ATROCIOUS rerelease of BOF2 for the same, and definate room for improvement in their Mega Man series, which I am also a big fan of, they DID come up with this thing in the first place, so obviously any fans owe them hugely." He paused for a moment. "Also, I have high hopes for Mega Man Zero 4." He dodged a swing from Deis' cane. "Aich! All right, all right, moving on. Next, we have a certain website, Dragon Tear. Located at it's an excellent site for BOF-related material, official artwork scans in particular. Those helped out greatly, so thanks. Also, I once hung out on the message boards of their predecessor/affiliate sites, a couple years back."

"Yeah, back when you were in high school." Spekkio chortled. "If anything, they should get an apology instead of a thankyou, if any of them actually remember you." The blue-haired man took a halfhearted swing at the old hobo, who dodged nimbly.

"Moving on... another thank you to my little brother DS, my ever-faithful editor. He tolerates my strange moods, spelling errors and deadline demands-that's right, the WRITER yells at the EDITOR about the deadline on this ship-so I owe him as always. Also as always, thanks to my writing mentor Erico, whom I hope to catch up to in skill within the next few years, as well as my three friends for the longest time on the 'net who I'm still in regular contact with; Yamakaze, Mister Chimpo and Chibi Schala. Just for hanging with me for this long." He frowned at Deis, who had broken into a fit of coughing. "What's YOUR problem?"

"What was that last name?" She demanded hoarsely. The strange man raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that. Yeah, Chibi Schala. It's a non-issue." Spekkio snickered, and the other two both gave him glares that could set his hat on fire. Which they did. Cursing, he began beating it against his coat, and the blue-haired man continued.

"At any rate, to finish up this portion, thank yous go to all the regulars at Hazard Labs, which for you curious folks is It's my main hangout these days, and the guys there keep me humble, although they're also doing wonders for my career prospects in a rubber room. Here's to you, if any of you ever read these. Not likely, I know." He glanced at another paper. "Right then, next we're onto answering reader questions. Mostly from reviews. First, we've got some wondering about the name 'Deis' from Red Chaos Mage. Why don't we let the lady herself answer that?"

"Sure, make me do the work…" Deis rolled her eyes. "As is common sometimes, there were significant name changes between the English and Japanese versions of both Breath Of Fire 1 and 2. My name and Myria's were both two of these instances. For most cases, the author used the English names since he prefers those, but he's heard that they used our original ones in the later games, although he's never played them himself. Also, one friend of his has gotten him into the habit of using my Japanese name… which, like 'Myria', just sounds a lot cooler, to be honest. Which is why we got the special treatment. Right, handle the next question yourself."

"Next question… okay, next is from the Young Fool, asking about Jade and Zog's motives." The blue-haired man thought for a moment. "Tricky, there. Jade… well, I worry about him, but I think he came out mostly okay in the end. Jade's motives really are self-serving, in the end… up until his death, he's using his Unit as stepping stones to fulfill the future he believes in, and not even he knows that he actually cares about them… so for all intents and purposes, he's been manipulating them to their deaths (and his own), and the fact that they know exactly what he's doing to them and follow his every wish anyways makes him even more of an ass. Jade IS an ass; even if he turns out to surprise even himself. Zog, now… Zog, I didn't really get a chance to explain properly, I think. Zog is insane… he wants to conquer the world, but not so much because he wants to be some kind of god-thing but because he feels the Dragon Clan's rightful place is at the top, stopping everybody else from killing each other. It's quite possible he might even have been a religious fanatic, believing that Ladon gave them the power of the Dragon for that purpose. Power and responsibility and all that jazz. At any rate, his mind wasn't working too well, but in his moments of lucidity he probably knew he was messed up, and made plans for the future… the daughter I gave him, who Zog knew would have been a far better ruler than him after his death. He was probably figuring that even with Myria's power (remember, unlike the Tiamat Unit who he technically wasn't a part of, Zog did not see the future and his own death), it would take him the rest of his life to bend the entire world to his will, and that his daughter would then take the throne and repair all the damage he had done in the process. Things didn't quite work out that way, obviously, but the end result is somewhat similar; Zog's daughter will have a great deal to do with the process that returns the Dark Dragons to the world's good grace, preparing for Breath Of Fire 2. In the end, Zog sees what he has become and what sins he has committed, but he also sees that Ryu can take care of things, and that his daughter can salvage his species, so he can be said to die happy."

"Blah, blah, blah." Uncle Specs growled. The blue-haired man glared at him.

"Just for that, YOU can answer the next… oh. That's all that haven't been answered already. Huh. Right then, that was easy."

"It usually is." Deis remarked. "In fact, I think once you made a Q&A section without any questions actually being answered at all."

"Quiet, you." The strange man muttered. "Well, we're just about the end. As usual, looking back on this thing it seems to be to be leaps and bounds above the one before it. I certainly hope it is; maybe I'll actually become pro quality one of these days. I think I managed to keep from going TOO far afield while still adding enough of my own material to keep things interesting... mainly with the Tiamat Unit." He made a face. "Looking back now, I think I overdid it a bit.. overcompensating for the utter lack of development they got in the game, I suppose. Which is a shame, because I've always thought they were extremely cool ever since I first played the game. And yet they don't seem to be very popular; fanart of them in particular is just about nonexistent. Not much I can do about it, though. Oh, there is one more thing. Namely, why the hell there were-I believe, five months-between updates on this thing. While I can't name names, there was an incident right after I had written chapters six and seven together but before I could put them up. An incident involving my computer and grape soda. No, it didn't actually explode, but the smoke was impressive. It was several months before I got a new comp, and even then I started from chapter eight on the hopes that six and seven could be salvaged from the hard drive. Said hopes turned out to be in vain, so eventually I gave in and just rewrote the damn things, putting them up on Easter of this year. Of course, by that point I was already several chapters ahead of the game. Still am; as I'm actually writing this, Chapter 13 will be going up in three days."

"And why exactly aren't you doing the decent thing and just throwing them all up now?" Spekkio inquired mildly.

"Because that would, you know, completely neutralize the suspense of waiting for what's going to happen next." The blue-haired man retorted. "Also, to be honest, to buy myself some time. My next project is, as longtime fans of mine can probably guess, back into the world of Mega Man for my third time. Even if you're not much of a fan of that series, take a look. You never know... and even if that doesn't do it, more things will come in time." Standing up, he gave a bit of a wry chuckle. "Believe me... this writing is one of the only things I can honestly say I'm doing GOOD in. I'm not giving it up for keeps."

"Good, looks like you're about done." Deis yawned. "Now I can finally catch some shut-eye."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda." The strange man groaned. "I'm going, I'm going. I'll see you in 20XX when the time comes, folks." Becoming a purple beam of light, the author zipped off through the clouds. Spekkio watched him go for a moment, then shrugged and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Deis alone on the roof. Below, the spirits and High Priests finished clearing up all the equipment and left as well. Deis remained where she was, and soon the only sounds in the city of Wisdon were her snores, echoing over the desert of Arad.

Magus523, May 2005


End file.
